Conduit 2 Wii - wii can hardly wait

Wii absolutely loved the first conduit game. 
It really was the first great first person shooter for the wii and it worked brilliantly with the wiizapper too.

Conduit 2 looks to be more of the same - just bigger and badder!
Conduit 2 is an enormous sequel. Not only does it greatly improve and expand on the original, the online and co-op play modes aim to raise the bar for Wii war games,” said Sean Ratcliffe, Vice President of Marketing, SEGA of America.

"The Conduit was the first of many original IP’s being developed by our studio." said Kerry J. Ganofsky, CEO and founder of High Voltage Software. "That’s why it gives me great pleasure to announce a sequel with a thrilling and exciting online experience.”

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit - finally a real racing game for the wii?

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit - finally a real racing game for the wii?
maybe...then again maybe not...
For better for for worse, the best racing game on the Wii still is Mario Kart, thanks to its intuitive controls and integration with the wiimote -- EA still hasn't figured this platform out.

Star Wars The Force Unleashed II - This game sucks

We love the first one, this one...not sooo much.
Difficult to control at times and hard to finish at others.
In comparison to other platforms Lucas rly shafted the wii this time around

Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet - First look

We were fans of the first Marvel SuperHero Squad game...good fun stuff for the kids.

EA Sports Active 2 - Holy cow is this expensive

We've enjoyed the EA Sport Active series, it really has helped to make an active difference in our lives.

So we were excited to see the new EA Sports Active 2 on the shelf, only problem is that this product is ridiculously over-priced in our view. At $100 what do you get? a game and some new sensors...

Neat, but i can't imagine that this product will be flying off the shelf at this price, we'll be waiting until it's cheaper before we buy it.

Marvel Super Hero Squad - fun for kids but problematic

We just rented Marvel Super Hero Squad - for play by a pair of under 10's - and it's not a bad game, but it's not great either.

On the positive side is the simplicity of the game - it's basically walk around and smash stuff. The kids love being able to play as the Super Hero squad - which are mini-versions of the Marvel heros we all know and love.

The co-op mode - aka 2 player missions - is very problematic though. The Player 1 is always really in control with the camera following that player. If Player 2 lags behind well they're just left out.

The camera angle  also swings around erratically at points making the game difficult to play.

Overall if you can pick up this game for $20 or less, it's decent fun for a few hours.

Have a Wii Christmas

After 3 years of not having enough Wii's on store shelves -- this year there are plenty of them.

so many that Nintendo is now advertising heavily to get rid of them.

Cyber Monday Nintendo Wii deals on Amazon - Guitar Hero Metallica only $25

Last year Amazon had some amazing deals on Wii games and gear on Cyber Monday and this year looks to be the same.

Sports games like Madden 10 and Tiger Woods 10 both have been marked down to $29.99.








Another big deal is Guitar Hero Metallica for $25 Guitar Hero Smash Hits
 is also only $25, Guitar Hero World Tour is only $17 !!

Lots of other smaller deals with reductions of 5-35% or so as far as we can tell.

EA Sports Active More Workouts - PROBLEMS - onscreen doesn't track and other quirks

We've been playing EA Sports Active More Workouts for just over a week now.

Overall it's a fun game - and a decent workout but it does have some very serious flaws.

For one, there is a chronic delay between the time you do an action and the on-screen avatar does the action. There are also some really bad tracking problems with some exercises where no matter what you do, the Wii doesn't recognize that you've done the exercise correctly.
At this point if the game doesn't track properly after one or two tries, i just skip the exercise and move on to the next one.

The other annoying thing - being a Wii Fit user too - is the fact that this game doesn't do daily weigh-ins!! That really sucks.

The six week challenge is interesting, but after you finish a workout there is no alert/notification for when the next workout is - you have to manually look at the calendar to figure it out - that's just a lame oversight by lazy programmers.

Also with the six week challenge there is no way to change your scheduled workouts for the current week - only for next week. Another piece of major suckage in our opinion.

SUCKAGE aside, this is the best REAL workout game for the Wii period. When it works it's awesome and we've never sweated more playing a game - EVER.

Wii Fit or Just a Wee Bit -of exercise? Study aims to prove whether Wii Fit matters

The American Council on Exercise has a report out this week about the efficacy of the Wii Fit for real exercise.

The study is titled, "Wii Fit or Just a Wee Bit" and you can get the full report here.  If you don't have the interest in reading the full report, I'll save you the grief.

The Council basically found that most of the Wii Fit exercises fell below their recommended fitness guidelines.

“I guess anything is better than nothing, but we were a little bit underwhelmed with the exercise intensity of some of the exercises,” says Porcari. “The Wii Fit is a very, very mild workout.”

Darth Vader Wii Sensor Bar Holder

Waving a Wii Mote around is kinda like using the Force isn't it?

Now there is a Darth Vader sensor bar for the Wii that will show that it's the Dark Side of the Force that the Wii will lead you too.

Specifically designed to work with the Wii first party sensor bar, the sculpture-quality Darth Vader figure safely supports the sensor bar while maintaining full range and performance. The detailed Darth Vader, made from high-density resin, accurately depicts the iconic character and his red-bladed lightsaber. With the sensor bar fitted into the lightsaber, fans will surely feel that Darth Vader is watching their every move. The Darth Vader Sensor Bar Holder is a must have for any player with a bit of the dark side in them.

Oh and the best part? It's not ridiculously expensive either. You can pick one up from Amazon for just over $30.

EA Sports Active :More Workouts - out today, but it doesn't include EA Sports Active exercise accessories

EA Sports Active: More Workouts is out today and it looks like a worthy challenger to Wii Fit Plus.

But there is at least one big problem. As opposed to the Wii Fit Plus which comes as both a standalone disk as well as a complete package with the Wii Balance Board - EA doesn't include the required accessories as part of their package.

If you read the fine print this is what it say:
* EA Sports Active leg strap and resistance band are not included on EA Sports Active More Workouts and are required for use. They are available on EA Sports Active Personal Trainer or EA Sports Active Accessory Pack. *

Also whereas Wii Fit Plus is a $20 upgrade this is almost double the price. You might get luck on ebay though ().

But bottom line is this is likely more $$.

REPORT: Playing Wii Fit is good for your health

Guess what? Wii Fit is actually real exercise.

Well at least that's what a Nintendo sponsored study concluded. The Japanese researchers measured the metabolic equivalent values (a standard method of estimating energy expenditure) of 12 people ages 25 to 44 as they played Wii sports games and did Wii fitness programs.

"The range of energy expenditure in these active games is sufficient to prevent or to improve obesity and lifestyle-related disease, from heart disease and diabetes to metabolic diseases," the study's lead author, Motohiko Miyachi, a project leader at the National Institute of Health and Nutrition in Tokyo, said in a news release from the American Heart Association.

The intensities of yoga and balance exercise were significantly lower than those of resistance and aerobic exercise, but these exercises are effective in improving flexibility and in fall prevention, researchers said.

“Energy expenditure is the most important information to measure the effect of video games,” said Miyachi.

Wii Fit Plus is relatively inexpensive ranging from $17 on Amazon and on eBay it's about the same ( )

Prices for The Conduit for Wii plummet now it's less $30

Remember all the hype last year and in the early part of this year about The Conduit?

It was supposed to be the first great first person shooter for the Wii with awesome multi-player and it has delivered.

But as is the case with all Wii games after a few months, pricing drops. Originally this was out at $49.99 but the current Amazon pricing is under $30.

Over on eBay, ebay auctions for The Conduitare coming in at the $20-30 range as well though we have seen a few copies go for $15.

The Conduit was a decent game @ $49.99, but at under $30 it's a steal.

Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked - a Lame Duck or a real new cooking game for the Wii?

Ever since the first Cooking Mama - we've seen more than our fair share of cooking type games for the Wii.

This new one - from the Food Network is a bit different though.

Typically the food Wii games involve challenges to get users doing kitchen actions. With Cook or Be Cooked, the claim is that they have real recipes and you might actually learn to cook.

I'm not so sure I'll use the wii to learn how to cook, but hey you never know and it's a bit different than anything else so far seen on the Wii.