Homebrew solution for Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection? Bring it on!

As we know, this service will be halting soon. Someone is working on a homebrew solution though so that the games may continue online!

We've been hoping for this kind of thing for a while now! Hopefully it will catch on.

Official Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for Wii and DS is ending soon

Well there we go. Haven't played many games from these systems online but we should take note of stuff like this in the future with our increasing reliance on Internet services.

YouTube, the web browser and the Shop Channel will still be available so that's a good thing. Home brew stuff as well.

Game Grumps encounter Aran Ryan, the Irish boxer from Punch-Out!!

I didn't know someone from Ireland was in this Wii game! He seems crazy too with his feisty movements and headbutts. He doesn't speak Irish though between rounds, just English. (The other contestants speak in their native language)

Game Grumps and co. (Steam Train) playing Fortune/Boom Street

I was really happy when I saw that they were playing this! I also felt really bad for Ross when he got the bum deal in everything. It's true about him being a scamp though! Just messing around and everything and not pressing 2...

Suzy is kicking all their asses...

Wii continues to live with more budget re-releases!

Why the heck not! There are some more Nintendo Selects releases on the way. We have:

Super Smash Bros Brawl
PokéPark Wii Pikachu's Adventure
Mario Kart Wii
Donkey Kong Country Returns

We also have a Mario Kart Wii Mini bundle on the way.

I just gotta say I love when this kind of thing happens!

Looking at some Smurfs 2 gameplay videos

Like I imagined, it's looking like a run of the mill platformer that's not very remarkable but could still be kinda fun. Collecting things, hopping and bopping on enemies; ok stuff. I still like the fact that it's appearing on Wii after everyone declared prematurely that the console was dead.

Trying the "standing up while playing games" thing

http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/the-best-games-are-those-when-you-play-standing-up/

Seán Malstrom had this post which left me curious for a good long while. I used to play games while standing in the arcades too but I don't usually do it anymore.

I do however, have the means to play games while standing up so I tried it, plugging my arcade stick into my Wii Remote while balancing it on the headrest of the armchair I usually play it on. I stood behind the chair and played this way.

Games were still good... my legs and feet aren't used to it though so they're aching right now! Maybe if I keep it up I'll get used to it.

I should try Wii Sports more often too.

First, Smurfs 2 for Wii and DS, now Turbo Super Stunt Squad!

The revival continues with another upcoming movie licence tie-in, Turbo from Dreamworks.

This is something that'll easily be mistaken as a reference to Wreck-It Ralph but it's about a snail that cam move at top speed. The game itself looks like those Tony Hawk and Matt Hoffman stunt games that used to completely flood the game store shelves (I don't miss that at all).

We're gonna be seeing a lot of teaser stuff now that Summer and E3 are approaching.

The Wii and DS still live! Smurfs 2 by WayForward and Ubisoft coming out for both

This is a nice surprise! Well, no not really. The only new Wii games that come out these days are movie licence tie-ins like Wreck-It Ralph and The Croods, which are both pretty good movies, but probably not so hot games(The Wreck-It Ralph game was only kind of ok). The nice surprise really is that there's going to be a Smurfs 2 movie. The first movie was good. Smurfs themselves looked ugly as hell but the movie was good. Hank Azaria was great as Gargamel and I hope he'll be just as good in the sequel.

WayForward are doing a sidescroller game based off the movie. They did the Hotel Transylvania one as well which I haven't tried. We'll see if either the game or the movie will be good.

Nintendo Selects Super Paper Mario, Wii Sports Resort are out along with the Wii Mini

They just came out this past Friday along with a couple of others like Mario Party 8. The Wii Mini also got released. The display box for the Wii Mini looked so tiny compared to the other console boxes!

Anyway the new Nintendo Selects games can be found in Argos and you can register them, even if you registered the originals. I didn't bother looking in GameStop, seeing how they're such fuckups.

The Wii Mini's appeal to me: It's a toploader

Now that there's actually going to be a European version of this thing I can think about it a little more.

The fact that it toploads games appeals to me as it's very nostalgic. My old CD player was like that and I have fond memories of the toploading PS1, listening to the disc spinning during quiet moments in a game. That's the biggest thing that appeals to me about it and it's more or less just a novelty really, especially considering all the stuff it CAN'T do.

If you want one, be informed about it first.

Edit: Forgot to mention GameCube, which was also a toploader! To me it feels nicer to put a GameCube disc into a GameCube than it does when you put it into an older Wii that's compatible with them.

The Wii Mini is coming out in UK! (Don't know about Ireland yet). Also, more Nintendo Selects

This is a nice surprise! The only other country it was released in was Canada and now the UK-- that's so far anyway. Nintendo is reaaaally close to selling 100 million Wiis and hopefully this'll help. I'd love to see it happen!

As for the new range of Nintendo Selects there's gonna be Super Paper Mario, Wii Sports Resort, Mario Power Tennis and Mario Party 8.

You can see it all here for yourself:
http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Wii/Wii-mini/Overview/Overview-726559.html

The Wii lives on, budget-style!

SEGA, find out what Gearbox did to Samba De Amigo while you're at it.

Dougal, I am not interested in Aliens.

I was beside myself with excitement when Samba De Amigo was finally announced for the Wii. It was gonna be awesome. Everyone who played it at events responded favourably to it. One of them was NGamer Magazine, but afterwards they gave it a 60 out of 100 in their review, saying that early preview copies worked really well but the final product doesn't for some reason.

I bought the game and played it myself and I don't think I've ever been so disappointed with a video game. The music and atmosphere was there but someone went and fucked up the controls, even after they were working properly! How could I suspect anything else besides sabotage?

This is what I want to know from Gearbox and SEGA. Who did this? Who killed Samba De Amigo?

Pandora's Tower is heading to America!

I'm very pleased for you guys! Out of the three Operation Rainfall games this is by far the best one.

I noticed that you have pretty much forgotten about this game and that you were most looking forward to The Last Story while you were campaigning, even though that's the least interesting of the three games. At least, that's what I've ascertained from the excitement you were causing.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I haven't seen anyone else besides you guys that gets so passionate about video games and it's one of the things I admire most about you all.

So let's see this passion for Pandora's Tower! Even though it's usually associated with two RPGs, this isn't actually one. It's a bit like Zelda, a bit like Castlevania and is conceptually a much purer video game than Xenoblade or Last Story. It's heroic, it's gory and it's unpretentious.

Time for hacking!

I just learned how to get the annoying warning message off the Wii startup sequence! Time to get hacking!

Game Grumps are playing Donkey Kong Country Returns

I thought they'd continue with the SNES trilogy :/

Ah well I'm sure this'll be entertaining.

I've been playing the SNES trilogy lately myself and I'm over halfway through DKC2 now.

Wii Mini compatible with most Wii software except for Manhunt 2

Only joking.

I'm not joking about the Wii Mini though. It's real and it's coming out in Canada.

Like the first revision of the Wii, it doesn't have GameCube compatibility but it doesn't have Internet access either. So that means no buying Virtual Console games?

I want to see all sides of it and to see it in action because I have some questions. Is it a top loader? Does it have USB ports & an SD card slot? Are there really over 1300 Wii disc games out there? Does it have a built in laser that zaps any copy of Manhunt 2 that comes within 20 metres?

Oh please let one of these things be true.

Virtual Console game removals suck.

This issue makes me depressed. Here I am promoting the Donkey Kong Country trilogy but for all the wrong reasons. From today the three games aren't available to purchase from the Wii Shopping Channel anymore and I've been in a mad rush for the past few days talking about them because of this threat(effectively speaking).

I wasn't entirely happy when the R-Type games were removed but the removal of DKC, one of the greatest game trilogies ever makes me feel very sad. The fact that I'm talking about them during their removal event more than I ever have, makes me feel worse. What if this type of blogging encourages a publisher to do this more and with ill intentions?

This time round I'm willing to give Nintendo the benefit of a doubt: There could be a temporary quality assurance issue what with the Wii U coming out and everything. Of course, this theory of mine could very well turn out to be false. Time will tell.

Last chance to buy those DKC games off the Wii Shopping Channel

This is it. Today's the last chance to get them.

I know this is yet another reminder but it's important.

Just.... why take them off at all? It's a horrible thing to do. I won't forget this and I want answers.

Reminder: The Donkey Kong Country games are being taken off the Wii Shopping Channel this Sunday

Why? I don't know... just thought I'd say it again because they're some of Nintendo's best games.

They won't be available to buy but the shopping channel says you can still download them from there afterwards if you bought them already.