In this episode we talk about WiiFit, Smash Bros selling tons, Miyamoto and Boomblox! Also we are currently offering a deal on BLOCKBUSTER Total Access click to activate coupon for $10 off your first month.

As mentioned in the podcast please become a fan of us on Facebook, and follow me on twitter!

We love to hear from you, so send in your questions and 60 second reviews! Enjoy this week’s podcast, talk to you guys soon!

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Shownotes

What are we playing

• Edgar - House of Dead 2 & 3, GH3, SSB
• Lloyd - Okami, Mass Effect

Release List

• Heavenly Guardian
• Battle of the Bands
• Target Terror
• Wild Earth: African Safari
• Mario Kart

News

• Big GameInformer interview with Miyamoto RE:WiiFit
• March NPD numbers are crazy good for Nintendo Smash did 2.7 mil units
• Student created DS games hit the Everybody’s Nintendo channel in Japan
• Headtracking taking a step back and out of Boomblox
• White gamecube controller meant for the Wii hitting Japan, gimme more Wavebirds!
• Nintendo Club Members of Japan can get a SNES controller for the Wii
• Video of StarWars Unleashed on Wii

Reviews and Email

• 60 SECOND REVIEW: Geometry Wars Galaxies - Ben Kenny
• EMAIL: Tom
• EMAIL: Adam

Contact Info

Digg: Digg.com
Facebook: Become a fan!
Twitter: Follow Dasme
Web: http://WiiSpot.com
Email: wiispotpodcast @ gmail.com
Voicemail: (206) 326-1221

Look for the new WiiSpot tonight! Thanks for your patience

As mentioned in the podcast please become a fan of us on Facebook, and follow me on twitter!

We love to hear from you, so send in your questions and 60 second reviews! Enjoy this week’s podcast, talk to you guys soon!

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Shownotes

What are we playing

• Edgar - House of Dead 2 & 3, Professor Layton, Rock Band, SSB
• Lloyd - Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword, Mass Effect

Release List

• Summer Sports Paradise Island
• Okami

News

• Nintendo’s Media Summit
  • Mario Super Sluggers Announced
  • Boom Blox coming May 6th - 400 levels, up to 4 player multiplayer
  • F-Zero Z - Maybe announced but still embargoed
• WiiWare News
  • Still coming in May 12th
  • Alien Crush remake coming from Hudson
  • Sam and Max coming to Wii
  • Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive people coming too!
• UK resident’s getting the BBC iPlayer on their Wii!
• Harmonix tells Wired that the Wii needs a hard drive
• Ask Iwata Wii Wheel

Reviews and Email

• 60 SECOND REVIEW: Geometry Wars Galaxies - Ben Kenny
• EMAIL: Ben Kenny
• EMAIL: Steven Farless

Contact Info

Digg: Digg.com
Facebook: Become a fan!
Twitter: Follow Dasme
Web: http://WiiSpot.com
Email: wiispotpodcast @ gmail.com
Voicemail: (206) 326-1221

We also take some time out from gushing about Smash Bros. to talk about the Twilight hack, Shovelware and the crazy huge Wii sales for Feb!.

We want to play you guys in Brawl! Please leave your friend codes in the comments section, and we’ll add as many as we can! Here are Mine and Edgar’s Brawl codes:

Lloyd’s: 2191 7367 3542
Edgar’s: 4210 3670 0171

As mentioned in the podcast please become a fan of us on Facebook, and follow me on twitter!

We love to hear from you, so send in your questions and 60 second reviews! Enjoy this week’s podcast, talk to you guys soon!

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Shownotes

What are we playing

• Edgar - Super Paper Mario, Professor Layton, Portal, Half Life 2 Eps 1, SSB
• Lloyd - God of War, FlatOut: Head On, Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Release List

• Super Smash Bros. Brawl
• House of the Dead 2 and 3
• Worms: A Space Oddity
• George of the Jungle
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
• Sega Superstar Tennis
• WWII Aces

News

• Wii Sales US for Feb 432k
• Wii back on top in Japan
• Simpler hombrew solution found with Twilight Hack - Will now read from Wii’s SD slot.
• Shovelware a good thing/Nintendo’s seal of quality
• Amazing Animals - new Safari game in Japan
• Wii Mario Kart Footage
• Taito bringing back Space Invaders… this time PLAY AS THE INVADERS
• Samba Delayed

Reviews and Email

• EMAIL: Trevor Stevens

Contact Info

Digg: Digg.com
Facebook: Become a fan!
Twitter: Follow Dasme
Web: http://WiiSpot.com
Email: wiispotpodcast @ gmail.com
Voicemail: (206) 326-1221

In this episode we talk about Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Kart, The Balance board, and play a submitted 60 second review and voicemail! Great show in the end, even with the delirium.

We love to hear from you, so send in your questions and 60 second reviews! Enjoy this week’s podcast, talk to you guys soon!

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Chat about this episode in our forums.

Shownotes

What are we playing

• Edgar - GH3, Metroid
• Lloyd - Prof. Layton, Patapon, FlatOut: head On

Release List

• Major League Baseball 2K8
• Bully Scholarship Edition
• Ninja Reflex
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - March 9th!!

News

• Wii Homebrew running courtesy of Twilight Princess hack (need more info)
• Mario Kart Wii’s text chat may not be all that
• We Ski will use the Wii Balance board if you have it
• Every known WiiWare title previewed
• Capcom says Resident Evil 0 still a possibility in NA
• Okami Wii is running 16×9 (you can stop emailing now!). Looks awesome!
• Brawl causes Wii to outsell PS3 4 to 1
• Pics of the NeoGeo Wii Stick surface since last episode

Reviews and Email

• 60 SECOND REVIEW: Batallion Wars 2
• VOICEMAIL: Dylan
• EMAIL: Taylor Wright

Contact Info

Digg: Digg.com
Web: http://WiiSpot.com
Email: wiispotpodcast @ gmail.com
Voicemail: (206) 326-1221

We chat mainly about GDC news in this episode, but there is enough funny to keep us going for 50 mins. Enjoy!

We love to hear from you, so send in your questions and 60 second reviews! Enjoy this week’s podcast, talk to you guys soon!

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Chat about this episode in our forums.

Shownotes

What are we playing

• Edgar - GH3, Metroid
• Lloyd - Prof. Layton, No More Heroes

Release List

• Destroy All Humans
• Bass Fishing
• Agatha Cristy: And then there were none

News

• New Wii in 2009?
• Design stages of the Fitness Board
• Wii Fit launching on May 19th
• Super Smash Brothers sold over a million in 11 days
• Boom Blox to include Head Tracking
• SNK releasing a few collections
• WiiWare launching on May 12th
• Activision giving GH3 refund

Reviews and Email

• EMAIL: Anson Yang
• EMAIL: Brian Shouse

Contact Info

Digg: Digg.com
Web: http://WiiSpot.com
Email: wiispotpodcast @ gmail.com
Voicemail: (206) 326-1221

Oh, and before you guys mention the part where I say that I can have the podcast out in a matter ofhours not days, my life fell into chaos last week, and I did not get a chance to edit/post! Check out the DSlife podcast for more info

Even with the lack of news,I think that we have a great show for you. We chat about new Wii Developers, a Wireless nunchuck and some Guitar Hero III spam.

We love to hear from you, so send in your questions and 60 second reviews! Enjoy this week’s podcast, talk to you guys soon!

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Chat about this episode in our forums.

Shownotes

What are we playing

• Edgar - GH3, Metroid
• Lloyd - LOTS

Release List

• Endless Ocean
• One Piece Unlimited Adventures
• Kawasaki Jet Ski
• No More Heroes

Virtual Console

• Pac-Attack - SNES - 800pts
• Riot Zone - TG16 CD - 800pts

News

• Some new Wii Devs Jumping on board - Factor 5, and the Sam & Max Devs
• Wireless Nunchuck wins CES best of Show from CNet
• Your next surgeon might be a gamer, or young gamers are just surgeons in training
• Guitar Hero III Wii is in Mono, and if you arranged to receive your replacement disk, Activision gave away your email address
• WiiMusic Details revealed - http://www.nintendic.com/news/1702
• Rumor: N64 Super Smash Bros VC title to release when Wii version ships

Reviews and Email

Contact Info

Digg: Digg.com
Web: http://WiiSpot.com
Email: wiispotpodcast @ gmail.com
Voicemail: (206) 326-1221

Tis the season, and to celebrate we are also giving each and every listener a gift; a holiday/Christmas music CD! My wife Cara created this CD last Xmas to give to all of our friends and family, and now we want to share it with you. Head on over to vgpodcasts.com/xmas/ and download your copy of “The Best Gift of All”. Please let us know what you think!

You’ll have to excuse the audio quality on this recording. Sadly the ebay seller who was to ship me my new mixer instead decided to keep my $250 and the mixer… yay! :\ I have a new one coming from a different seller, but sadly it wasn’t here in time.

We here at the WiiSpot podcast home that all of you have a happy and healthy holiday season! See you in 2008!

We love to hear from you, so send in your questions and 60 second reviews! Enjoy this week’s podcast, talk to you guys soon!

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Shownotes

What are we playing

• Edgar - GH3, Metroid
• Lloyd - LOTS

Release List

• Cranium Kabookii
• Cruis’n
• Game Party
• History Channel: Battle for the Pacific
• Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

Virtual Console

• Super Mario Bros. 3 — NES — 500 Wii points
• Power Golf — Turbografx — 600 Wii points
• Blue’s Journey — Neo Geo — 900 Wii points
• Wrecking Crew — NES — 500 Wii Points
• Sonic 3D Blast — GEN — 800 Wii Points
• Super Air Zonk — TG16 CD — 800 Wii Points

News

• Did you check out the “Check Mii Out” Channel?
• The Wii is 1! - 14 Million in sales
• Mario Galaxy is the #2 best reviewed game of all time
• PS3 sales spike in Japan, edges out Wii
• Wii Guitar Hero has Mono
• Are Wii ready for a MMO on the Wii?
• Smash Bros. Dojo has been giving us some tasty tidbits over the last few weeks. - http://smashbros.com - Level Editing, New level a day, betting mode, Sweet final smashes… DELAYED until Feb
• Wii gets the Shaft - http://www.wiishaft.com/ - I’d Stick with the Hori Wii Fighting Stick
• House of the Dead bundle coming to the Wii

Reviews and Email

• 60 Second Review: Devil’s Crush - Sam Atkins
• EMAIL: Mario

Contact Info

Digg: Digg.com
Web: http://WiiSpot.com
Email: wiispotpodcast @ gmail.com
Voicemail: (206) 326-1221

It’s a great episode coming in just over an hour, and we hope you enjoy!

We love to hear from you, so send in your questions and 60 second reviews! Enjoy this week’s podcast, talk to you guys soon!

Sponsor: Try GotoMeeting free for 30 days! For this special offer, visit www.gotomeeting.com/podcast

Subscribe via iTunes or directly: http://wiispot.com/podcastfeed/

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Call our voicemail line and leave us a comment! 1-206-326-1221

Chat about this episode in our forums.

Shownotes

What are we playing

• Edgar - I would be playing Resident Wiivil. Sport- brought Wii to work
• Lloyd - Resident WiiVil, Scarface

Release List

• Mario Strikers Charged
• Alien Syndrome
• Escape from Bug Island
• Chicken Shoot
• Boogie

Virtual Console

• Drop Off - 600pts - TG16
• Dynamite Headdy - 800pts - GEN
• Star Soldier - 500pts - NES

News

• E3 2007 Wrapup
  • Zapper Attachment
  • Mario Kart Wii with Wheel
  • Dates for Smash Bros and Mario Galaxy - Dec 3rd and Nov 12th respectively
  • WiiFit announced, comes with balance Board attachment
  • Donkey Kong Barrel Blast - no longer using GC bongos
• SmashDojo Updates of Note
  • Subspace Emissary
  • Castle Siege stage
  • New character: Ike from Fire Emblem
  • Samus’ sweet Final Smash move
• Wii Guitar Hero Controller shown… old news but still damn cool!
• Wii Exercise comes out first in attempt to outdo WiiFit
• Rockstar announces two more games for the Wii: Table Tennis and Bully: Scholorship Edition
• Trauma Center: New Blood announced
• WiiStrap
• Capcom Q1 Sales rise on brisk sales of Phenoix Wright 4 and Resident Wiivil
• Iwata on the iPhone
• Rumoured Sega lineup for TGS contains: Virtua Fighter Kids 2 and Space Channel 5 Showtime

Reviews and Email

• EMAIL: Adam
• EMAIL: Phil
• EMAIL: hcnoble

Contact Info

Digg: Digg.com
Web: http://WiiSpot.com
Email: wiispotpodcast @ gmail.com
Voicemail: (206) 326-1221

At Nintendo’s Pre-E3 conference Reggie Fils-Aime stood on stage and let us all know that Super Mario Gallaxy will be released in America on Nov. 12, 2007! Finally a solid release date, can’t wait! Sadly, no other big new info was given. You are still Mario, and you are trekking through space in your adventure to save the princess. What was shown was a new gameplay trailer that had Mario jumping into a new bee and ghost costume, but that is about the only new info to be found.

Below you can find some new images and a embedded copy of the new Super Mario Galaxy trailer.

During the Pre-E3 Press Conference Reggie made mention of one of our most anticipated games here at WiiSpot, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Sadly this game will not be on display at E3 this year (HUNH? Nintendo!?), but a release date of December 3rd was finally given!

For more Smash Bros. info you can checkout the daily updates at the Smash Bros. Dojo. As always, more info will be posted here as Nintendo lets it out of their greedy little hands!

At the Pre-E3 conference Reggie Fils-Aime has announced a new Nintendo accessory for the Wii, the Wii Zapper. This optional wiimote/Nunchuck shell will allow games new and old to get the best out of the upcoming light-gun based games: Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Ghost Squad.

The Zapper will retail for a MSRP of $19.99 and will come with a game disk containing some Zapper games.

Personally I can’t wait to get this add-on, as I am a huge light gun fan. Hopefully it won’t be forgotten by the third-party developers out there like the bulk of the add-ons are.

During the pre-E3 conference just minutes ago, Reggie has officially announced the game that we all knew was coming. Mario Kart Wii (tentative name) will be hitting the stores in the first quarter of 2008! No real retails were given in regards to changes in gameplay, but Reggie made mention that it would be online from day one. Reggie also hinted that the number of players that can race together has been increased, but didn’t give us a solid number.

The Wii Wheel attachment (in the last thumbnail below) was also announced as a pack in with Mario Kart! More details will be coming as Nintendo makes them available.

Any ways, we are back and have a great hour long show for you. In this episode we talk about some older news that happened during our hiatus, mention some exclusive games that have been announced, talk about Wii development, and get into a big debate over game ratings. Fun times and should give you all about an hour of Wii goodness.

Things are still crazy, but we will do our best to get a show out atleast every couple of weeks. Please bear with us, it’s going to get better

We love to hear from you, so send in your questions and 60 second reviews! Enjoy this week’s podcast, talk to you guys soon!

Sponsor: Try GotoMeeting free for 30 days! For this special offer, visit www.gotomeeting.com/podcast

Subscribe via iTunes or directly: http://wiispot.com/podcastfeed/

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Call our voicemail line and leave us a comment! 1-206-326-1221

Chat about this episode in our forums.

Shownotes

What are we playing

• Edgar - I would be playing Resident Wiivil. Sport- brought Wii to work
• Lloyd - Mario Party 8, Scarface, Big Brain Academy Wii Degree

Release List

• Driver Parallel Lines
• Ratatouille
• Transformers the Game
• Harry potter and the order of the Phoenix
• The Bigs
• Resident Evil 4

Virtual Console

• DRAGON SPIRIT - TG16 - 600
• Ecco: The Tides of Time - GEN - 800
• Super Mario Bros. 2 - NES - 500
• China Warrior - TG16 - 600
• F-Zero X - N64 - 1000
• Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting - SNES - 800pts

News

• WiiWare announced
• Manhunt AO
• Beautiful Katamari Rumour - no PS3, 360/Wii only
• Midway Games bringing out the Wii love!
  • Wii Party
  • Cruis’n
• Wii Still hard to find as you all know
• Wii development is “a cake walk” says Michael Kelvaugh, Retro president and CEO
• Lightsaber game for the Wii
• WiiFriends Application on Facebook

Reviews and Email

• EMAIL: TehPizzaHut
• EMAIL: Retman

Contact Info

Digg: Digg.com
Web: http://WiiSpot.com
Email: wiispotpodcast @ gmail.com
Voicemail: (206) 326-1221

One wonders how this is going to end up, and whether Rockstar’s labor will be worth the effort. One also considers if this was intentional… There’s no such thing as bad publicity.

[Read]

For our NES release this week we have NES Open Tournament Golf just in time for Father’s Day (Well, almost). Take on the role of Mario or Luigi and hit the links in this sequel to the classic game Golf. I have many fond memories playing this game with my friends growing up. It’s simple, but engaging enough to make it fun. Well worth the 500 points if you enjoy arcadey golf games in my opinion.

Up next is a pair of TurboGrafx-16 games, World Sports Competition and Bloody Wolf. First off World Sports takes you to the Olympics where you can compete in 18 Olympic games. Events like Archery, Rowing, Track events and the HJavelin will keep you busy as you aim for the gold medals.

Our second release on the TG16 is Bloody Wolf. Take on the role of a commando and battle through the side scrolling stages in your attempt to rescue the president. I’m a sucker for these side scrolling shooters, and I will finally have my chance to play this one seeing as I missed it the first time out.

So this was not a bad week for VC games, but one has to ask… Where are our N64 games Nintendo?

Mario Party has, for nearly a decade now, been a mainstay of the party gamer. Those people who love to get a group of people together and just have fun playing videogames. That’s the reason why I first picked up Mario Party, and it’s the reason why I still love playing it today. I’ve been waiting patiently since the announcement was made that Mario Party 8 was coming to the Wii, not the Gamecube, to get my hands on it. Surely the unparalleled control and freedom that the Wiimote provides would make MP8 the best in the series. right? Lets find out.

If you aren’t familiar with the game series I’ll give you a little primer. Mario Party has you and up to 3 of your friends playing a virtual board game to win stars. Between rounds you and your friends, or the computer-controlled opponents, play a random mini game to win coins. Coins will buy you stars or helpful items to make your game easier. In this iteration of the game candies have been added that you can find on the map. Each of these candies has a unique power to help you on your quest. Powers like double or triple dice rolls, a coin sucking vampire transformation and a coin draining electro zap can be used to temporarily give you the upper hand in your battle.

In this version, the party takes place at a carnival. Your ringleader and master of ceremonies, Ballyhoo, is there to help you on your way through the five game modes. All of the major modes are here, but for the Wii version they have added the Extras Zone and a Star Battle Arena. The Extras Zone allows you to play some mini-games that are only available in that mode such as a simplified version of Wii Bowling or Ping Pong. Mini-games in this mode are played with your Mii, which was a nice touch. I would love to see my Mii in almost all the games I have played on the system! The second new mode is the Star Battle Arena. This is a single player adventure mode that has you taking on a series of computer-controlled opponents all vying to be crowned the champion.

Throughout the game you gain Carnival Cards that you use as currency to unlock other items. Two additional player characters are up for grabs here, as well as a plethora of other items such as new voices, mini-games and movies. For some reason they’ve added in some mini statues that you can unlock. The thing is, these statues do nothing but sit there when you unlock them. I was hoping that these would give you mini-games, costumes, voices, or anything really. Instead they just sit there collecting virtual dust in the game’s carnival Wagon. This to me was a strange addition, but it’s something else for the completists to work at collecting I suppose.

The main focus of this title is, of course, the mini-games, and I was hoping that this is where the game would really shine. There are 3 main control schemes while playing through the games. The first is using the Wiimote as something, for example you swing it as a bat, use it as a hammer or lasso. This is what I was hoping for when I placed the game into my Wii, and it delivered perfectly! The second main control mode is using the Wiimote as a steering wheel. You tilt the wheel left to right, forward to back, and hope that your tilts will register. The strange thing with this mode is that some of the flying minigames don’t use it. Instead you use the dpad and twist the wiimote left to right, a strange control decision, and one that feels like a last minute tack on. The final control method is sadly used far too often; holding the wiimote on it’s side like a NES pad and mashing the buttons. To me there should have been no games using this lazy control style. Part of the fun of playing a game like this on the Wii is using the waggle control to it’s fullest. Games using this control style sadly feel like shoddy Gamecube ports thrown in to up the mini-game count. We expect more Nintendo!

By far my biggest surprise with this game was the number of varied game boards you have to play on. There are a total of 6 boards in Mario Party 8, and all of them bring you up and close to the action instead of the normal bird’s eye view used in the older titles. Boards like Goomba’s Booty Boardwalk and Koopa’s Tycoon Town really change the way you play the game by throwing in a nice dose of strategy into the mix. On the Booty Boardwalk stage you race to the finish line in basically a straight line, the first to get there gets a chance to buy the star, then gets transported to the start. Tycoon Town has you playing a simplified game of Monopoly where you invest your coins into the hotels to secure the stars they hold. The cool this about this stage is that someone can come up right under your nose and invest a few more coins then you did, taking the 1,2 or 3 stars that that particular hotel holds. I loved this stage, and it is by far the most played one at my house.

With this game showing up on the Wii, the graphics and sound could have been pumped up a notch from it’s Gamecube cousins. While a few new graphical effects have been added, and the close up view of the stages now allow you to appreciate the detail, a decision was made to not present this game in a widescreen mode for those who have a widescreen TV and component cables. This is a huge issue for me as Nintendo should be the ones setting the bar from a graphical standpoint. While not everyone has a widescreen TV, having that option for those who do is a heck of a lot nicer then the “curtain” bars we are given on the left and right of the screen while in widescreen mode. I hope a decision is made from here on out that makes widescreen modes mandatory in all Nintendo published titles. I know that Hudson was the developer on this title, but by working closely with Nintendo I hoped that they would have adopted some of the design practices that Nintendo uses.

Complaints aside, Mario Party 8 is a great title to fire up on your Wii; provided that you are playing with others. Like all previous Mario Party titles the single player modes are far from the focus, but nothing is better then getting a room of your friends or family together to play and laugh along with this title. The Wiimote controls may not be there for all of the games, but the ones that have it are great multiplayer fun. And isn’t that what gaming on the Wii all about?

I give Mario Party 8 on the Wii a 7/10 - This is a worthy party title to add to your collection provided you don’t already have copies of 6 or 7 on the Gamecube handy.

Highlights include a Portable Wii system, Ubisoft asking us to forgive them, Rumour chatter on the ramp up to E3, Smash Bros coolness and the mention of a new friend invitation patent that Nintendo has secured. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it, let us know what you think of the review style and Edgar’s audio quality in the episode.

We love to hear from you, so send in your questions and 60 second reviews! Enjoy this week’s podcast, talk to you guys soon!

Subscribe via iTunes or directly: http://wiispot.com/podcastfeed/

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Call our voicemail line and leave us a comment! 1-206-326-1221

Chat about this episode in our forums.

Shownotes

What are we playing

• Edgar - Wario Ware, Sports..tons on my DS
• Lloyd - Mario Partay 8, Forza 2

Release List

• Mario Party 8
• Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree
• Scarface
• The Sims 2 Pets

Virtual Console

• Dead Moon - TG16 - 600pts
• Milon’s Secret Castle - NES - 500pts
• ToeJam and Earl in panic on Funkotron - GEN - 800pts
• Zelda II - NES - 500pts
• Actraiser - SNES - 800pts

News

• 100 Classic Wii Games Downloaded 4.7 Million Times
• Nintendo beats Sony on both fronts by 5:1 in Japan
• Ubisoft says “We’re Sorry” for third rate Wii ports
• Rumours flying across the net on Big E3 hardware/software announcements
• Smash Bros Uses All Types of Control
• Smash Bros Dojo offers daily news blogs
• Nintendo gains new patent
• WiiWasHere Opens
• MK Cheat Sheet
• The Pega Portable Wii

Reviews and Email

• REVIEW: Mario Party 8 - Lloyd

Contact Info

Digg: Digg.com
Web: http://WiiSpot.com
Email: wiispotpodcast @ gmail.com
Voicemail: (206) 326-1221

With the reception that Crush has received, it’s a wonder they don’t port the successful mind bending puzzle game over to these systems immediately. High 8’s across the rating spectrum seems like a sequel, at least, is inevitable, and with a lot of third party developers going multi-platform, you can almost count on Crush feeling the love from the Wii.

[PSP Fanboy]

Anyways, in this episode of the WiiSpot podcast we talk about new downloadable games coming to the Wii, chat a bit about Namco Museum and Raving Rabbids 2, discuss a Nintendo Survey, mention some new accessories and finally talk about how the Nintendo DS and Wii have Driven up the U.S. Games Sales 20% in April.

We love to hear from you, so send in your questions and 60 second reviews! Enjoy this week’s podcast, talk to you guys soon!

Subscribe via iTunes or directly: http://wiispot.com/podcastfeed/

Digg Us! at Digg.com

Call our voicemail line and leave us a comment! 1-206-326-1221

Chat about this episode in our forums.

Shownotes

What are we playing

• Edgar - Super Paper Mario, Not Much of anything else
• Lloyd - Pokemon, Halo 3 Beta

Release List

• Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End
• Mario Party 8
• Mortal Kombat Armageddon
• Surf’s Up
• Tamagotchi: Party On!

Virtual Console

• Ninja Gaiden - NES - 500pts
• Ninja Spirit - TG16 - 600pts
• Pac-Man - NES - 500pts

News

• Nintendo DS, Wii Drive U.S. Games Sales Up 20% in April
• Raving Rabbids get Sequel
• Namco Museum REMIX announced for the Wii
• Brando announces WiiDock, hide the unsightly cords
• Nintendo send out a Super Paper Mario Survey, asks about sequel
• Capcom downloadable games on the Wii? Not unless Nintendo gets thier act together says Christrian Sevensson
• DJ WiiJ performance up for all to see

Reviews and Email

• EMAIL: Jake
• EMAIL: WTI
• EMAIL: John
• EMAIL: Aaron

Contact Info

Digg: Digg.com
Web: http://WiiSpot.com
Email: wiispotpodcast @ gmail.com
Voicemail: (206) 326-1221

There were a total of three of us, and one computer AI player, whom we set to a ‘Normal’ difficulty level. As we started up the game we were excited about the theme, as the game is based around a carnival setting, with various tents, events, and a bizarre that represent assorted amounts of places in the Party universe. We pointed and clicked at the Multiplayer option, which we were pleasantly surprised was represented before the single player button. The initial amount of levels were presented to us, and I’m not going to lie: I didn’t count, because we panicked and selected the first attractive board we saw - the logo had a Goomba wearing a pirate hat.

The board loads, and we’re on our way. You get the simple introduction of how the board works, and this one surprised us. As opposed to being a circular, or winding board, the map is a straight race to the pirate Goomba. As opposed to paying for the star as you usually would, the star is rewarded to everyone who makes it to the end of the race. There are shortcuts (dolphins that take you further, or to a secret island) and the linear path, but the shortcuts will take you further along, skipping 20-30 spaces, but it’s a real expensive convenience.  Now we’ve got the rules and such, let’s party!

Wait.

What’s that on the side? Those curtains on the side, why are they there?

Oh.

They aren’t curtains, they’re curtain-like sidebars. I’ve got blue sidebars on my television, taking up a large portion of my Mario-esque party, and they won’t go away. There’s no setting in my ‘pause’ menu for screen options, nothing in the game and no way of getting rid of these insanely bothersome distractions that are plaguing the sides of my television. We quit the game. It’s bothersome enough that we’ll go to the main menu, and look there.

I find no setting options anywhere. Fruitless, we return to our party, slightly heartbroken, but we play anyway. Despite these aggravating distractions, we find ourselves having a good time playing the board, and starting up our first mini-game. As the board fades, and the game description arises, the bars go away! Hooray! The sidebars are only there for the board, and don’t take away from the core-fun of MP, and we play in full widescreen glory. The first game has us punching the remote outwards to destroy a Bowser statue. Okay, that’s good, the Wii Remote controls are utilizing the technology. As we go on we notice two things: The visuals are disturbingly grainy, and I can’t find a way to fix that either (and yes, I’m in 480p) - the second thing is that as we play on, the minigames seem to be total rehashes of older Party games with Wii Remote controls tacked on, which was disappointing, but definitely acceptable. A friend of mine also found that the controls in certain games were simply off, which we universally agreed on. By the time the game finished, we had gotten over the sidebars, and generally had a really great time playing these games together. Some require you to turn your controller and use it in the classic manner, which we found to be kind of a cop-out, but still provided a nice change from the motion-based games.

Overall, I’m totally satisfied with Mario Party 8. It’s a satisfying party game, and makes for some more deep gaming than the other minigame collections that the Wii is so abundant with. It’s worth it if you’re a Party player, and need a great new Wii game now. It’s perfect for the summer drought, so embrace it, because it will embrace you right back.

In this episode we cover a pile of news, some new some old.. We mention the Wii slippage of Metroid Prime 3, the fact that Wii production is rampingup finally, mention the great Wii version of Google reader, chat a bit about RE4 and also chat about Robbie Bach and his bizarre Wii talk.

Hope you enjoy it, and thanks for bearing with our tech difficulties. We should have it all sorted!

We love to hear from you, so send in your questions and 60 second reviews!

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Shownotes

What are we playing

• Edgar - Super Paper Mario, NEW Internet Channel, GH2, PUNCH OUT
• Lloyd - Pokemon, Super Paper Mario

Release List

• Heatseeker
• Legend of the Dragon
• Spider-Man 3 the game
• Shrek the Third

Virtual Console

• Battle Lode Runner - TG16 - 600pts
• Gradius III - SNES - 800pts
• Wonderboy in Monster World - GEN - 800pts
• Mighty Bomb Jack - NES - 500pts
• Final Fight - SNES - 800pts
• Ordyne - TG16 - 600pts

News

• Reggie Clarifies game drought, metroid slips
• Nintendo Ramping up Wii Production
• 45 Wii games in production at Nintendo CO
• Cool WiiMote rechargeable grip released
• Soul Calibur Legends
• The Google Wiider
• RUMOR: Lego Star wars 1 and 2 heading to the Wii in one easy to digest package
• Glowing Trigger Finger Wii LED mod
• Robbie Bach
• RE4 - Price, Level if Difficulty, and extras and how awesome it IS.

Reviews and Email

• 60 SECOND REVIEW: Marvel Ultimate Alliance - Chase Rogan
• VOICEMAIL: Michael - Xbox 360 podcast
• EMAIL: Dylan
• EMAIL: Jesse
• EMAIL: Jojo
• EMAIL: Fred

Contact Info

Digg: Digg.com
Web: http://WiiSpot.com
Email: wiispotpodcast @ gmail.com
Voicemail: (206) 326-1221

In this episode of the WiiSpot.com podcast we talk about how Nintendo large is ruling the gaming roost right now, Nights, some great Wii browser formatted content, and end things off with a heated Guitar Hero II rant. We know that GHII isn’t a Wii game yet… but this is something that really was upsetting us at the time. Le