Game! Website Articles - December 20, 2010

Wii 2011 Lineup #

Next year looks like a slow one for the Wii, especially compared to the first-party-filled 2010. Titles to expect include de Blob 2, Conduit 2, Lost in Shadow, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, LEGO Pirates of the Carribean, MLB 2K11, Mario Sports Mix, and possibly the highly anticipated The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - though Nintendo has yet to state an official release date. Note that this is not an exhaustive list.

Paltry as the list may be, bear in mind that Nintendo is mum about any information on their plans for holiday titles. Nintendo fans were pleasantly surprised by three major games this holiday season; namely, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Epic Mickey, and Donkey Kong Country Returns. Also remember that March 2011 is the release of the Nintendo 3DS, if the company keeps to their schedule. The opening lineup for the much awaited autostereoscopic handheld is impressive to say the least, and with hardware that supposedly eclipses the Wii’s, it’s within all expectations that developers who already have the 3DS SDKs are concentrating on the device. We’ll also get to see if the rumor about an HD-enabled “Wii 2,” which has floated around the Internet since September 2008, is anything other than hot air.

Breathe new life into your aging Wii #

For many Wii owners out there, their pearly white consoles have been gathering dust in a forgotten corner of their room for quite some time now. The good games are too few and far between, and let’s face it; the Wii gets a bad rap most of the time for its SD graphics, even though it’s had a great run of highly entertaining and innovative games, some of them with beautiful art styles that simply work despite the lack of any HD capability.

Where the Wii lacks in power compared to its rivals, it makes up for with a strong and dedicated homebrew community. For those unfamiliar with the term, I won’t hide the fact that a large and essential part of the homebrew culture involves hacking. However, the intent of such practice is mostly benign, the heart of which is to simply push the limits of the console and enable it load software created by the community. For example, WiiMC (http://www.wiimc.org/) enables the Wii to function as a feature-packed media player capable of playing audio, video, online media (YouTube, SHOUTcast, Navi-X), and pictures loaded on either an SD card or through the Wii’s USB slots. On older Wiis (any Wii prior to the black model), the DVD slot can even be used to play DVD movies. There are many other examples of amazing homebrew software, including the ScummVM emulator, Riivolution (which patches games in realtime, allowing hacks such as custom levels for New Super Mario Bros. Wii, for example), and even some Linux distributions customized for the Wii.

The most comprehensive and simple guide for softmodding (software modification; hacking the Wii requires no hardware installation) your Wii can be found here (http://sites.google.com/site/​completesg/). The process is safe, however power interruptions and carelessness could potentially brick the console, turning it into an expensive paperweight. Do so at your own risk, and note that Game! does not support piracy.

iPad freebies for you and your cat #

Are you a cat lover? Do you love your cat enough to lend it your iPad? If so, you may want to treat your feline friend to Game for Cats (http://www.ipadgameforcats.​com/), an iPad app specifically tailored for the preferably de-clawed pet. Self-advertised as “The World’s Best Video Game (for cats, not humans),” the app comes with two modes: Chase a Laser, which simulates all the fun of leading your cat on a merry goose chase using an ever uncatchable laser without any of the work; and Chase a Mouse, which one can only imagine to be infinitely frustrating for the cat who will never be able to satisfy itself with the kill - or the bloody mess that follows.

For those of you without cats (why don’t you have cats?), ZeptoLab has released a free version of their famous and addictive game, Cut the Rope, as a “thank you” to all the fans who helped keep the game at the top of the iTunes game sales charts. Available at the iTunes App Store (http://itunes.apple.com/us/​app/cut-the-rope-holiday-gift/​id406513121?mt=8) for an indefinite duration, Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift doesn’t require owning the original Cut the Rope, or any other ZeptoLab game for that matter. It features 25 additional Christmas-themed levels, achievements for those inclined to show off, and a new Portal-like mechanic, “Christmas Socks,” which catches candy in one end and spits it out the other for a new layer of puzzle-solving brain drain.

Whether you’re a cat, a cat-lover, or someone who couldn’t give a damn about cats (why!?), there’s something free for you at the iTunes App Store this holiday season.