Force Feedback Wheel for the Nintendo Wii Introduced by Logitech

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Logitech has announced today the first ever force feedback wheel for the Nintendo Wii. The device is called the Logitech Speed Force Wireless racing wheel and is designed to work with EA's forthcoming Need for Speed Undercover video game. The wheel is licensed by Nintendo and introduces force feedback to the Nintendo Wii.

The wheel uses a one-piece design and is convenient to use on a couch, armchair, or on the floor. The wheel features built-in gas and brake controls located on the wheel and expandable lap rest that's adjustable. The wheel is wireless and uses 2.4 GHz technology allowing for range of up to 30 feet from the console. Read more

Posted on Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:30:47 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Nintendo Wii is I4U Top 100 Holiday Gift Tip #1

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We start our 100 day countdown of our Top 100 Holiday Gift Guide with the Nintendo Wii. Why? Because the Wii console is still as hot as it was back in 2006. Nintendo sold 555,000 Wii consoles last month alone. The Wii is still not that easy to find, especially online. The permanent Wii shortage is another reason why we feature the Wii so early in our Top 100 Holiday Gift Guide.
You should by all means buy a Wii if you see it on your Sunday stroll through the mall at Target, Wal-mart, Toys'R'Us etc. There will be no price cut for the Wii and sales offers would just be featuring Wii bundles moving closer to the Holidays. If you see a Wii for the $249 price do not hesitate and just buy it and hide it from your kids in the cellar until Christmas. Read more

Posted on Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:40:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Nintendo sold 369,603 Wii Fit Accessories in July

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Based on NDP sales numbers Nintendo had an outstanding month again in the United States. You would think people spend their time outside during Summer. Instead Americans bought 369,603 Wii Fit systems to apparently loose those pounds.
Nintendo managed to sell 555,000 Wii units and 608,000 DS units leaving the competition in the console and handheld gaming system market far behind. Read more

Posted on Fri, 15 Aug 2008 07:35:13 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

The next Nintendo Wii to take us way into the Future?

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That Nintendo's hardware developers are already working on the next generation of the Nintendo Wii is for certain. The Times Online has a report triggered by a statement of Nintendo's President Satoru Iwata. He said: "The hardware team started work on the next thing as soon as they were done with their previous project, but what they think up doesn't necessarily become a product."

Speculations on what Nintendo would release as a Wii 2 are manifold. Nintendo could just release a Wii with more CPU power that is able to handle media and games at higher resolution or they could just break the rules again and deliver something outlandish like a body-suit or brain interface. Read more

Posted on Sun, 10 Aug 2008 10:16:27 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

How the Wii is Beating the Xbox 360 and PS3

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Our friends over at Digital Trends analyze why the Wii is beating the Xbox 360 and the PS3. There is a rumor that the Xbox 360 Arcade will be soon selling below $200. Still, consumers are still likely to pay $50 more for a Wii in my opinion than go for the cheaper Xbox 360 if they can get one.

Quote: "Nintendo has gotten family and friends involved with their system without the multimedia sharing capabilities that the other systems offer. Read more

Posted on Wed, 6 Aug 2008 16:26:55 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Nintendo Wii outsells PS3 3-to-1 in Japan in July

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TOKYO (Reuters) - Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii video game console outsold Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 by more than 3-to-1 in Japan in July, a game magazine publisher said.
Read more

Posted on Fri, 1 Aug 2008 02:55:29 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Nintendo's Profit rises by 34% because of Wii

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Nintendo announced it's quarterly earnings and reports a rise in profits of 34%.

The net income was 107.3 billion yen ($99 million) in the three months ended June 30, up from 80.3 billion yen a year earlier.
The Sales of the Nintendo Wii console have risen 51%.
Nintendo forecasts sales of of the Wii to rise 34% this year, which would bring Nitendo closer to pass Sony as the world's largest maker of video game consoles. Read more

Posted on Wed, 30 Jul 2008 05:03:08 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Comcast offers Nintendo Wii to new Triple Play Customers

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Comcast offers a free Nintendo Wii console for new Comcast Triple Play customers. From today until August 17, 2008, those who sign up for Comcast Preferred Plus or Premier Triple Play package will receive a complimentary Wii console.

If you are in need for a new broadband service this sounds like a nice opportunity as Wii consoles are still hard to find for the $249 they actually should cost you. This is a pretty smart marketing move by Comcast to choose an incentive that is actually not that expensive, but consumers are just having a hard time getting their hands on it at that price. Read more

Posted on Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:20:42 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Sanyo Contactless Charger Set for Wii unveiled

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Sanyo announces a Contactless Charger Set for the Nintendo Wii Remote Control under the license of Nintendo.

The Wii remote uses two AA batteries and it is well known to take up many batteries. The Sanyo set offers you the convenience of simple charging by placing the Wii remote control into the specialized stand, the only battery and charger made under license from Nintendo, and the capability to sequentially charge 4 controllers from a single AC adapter. Read more

Posted on Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:52:47 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

7 inch portable Screen for Nintendo Wii on Sale

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If you cannot go on your vacation without leaving your Wii behind, here is the solution. The Intec 7" display for the Nintendo Wii makes your Wii mobile.

Our I4U Shop has the Intec 7" Wii Screen system on sale for a very low $101.67. The best price on Amazon.com for the Intec Wii accessory is $122.99 right now. Read more

Posted on Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:21:11 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Nintendo, Fujifilm start Wii online Photo Service

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TOKYO (Reuters) - The Nintendo Wii just got a photogenic makeover.

Nintendo said on Wednesday that it would offer new online photo services together with Fujifilm Holdings Corp , enabling users to upload and print photos via the Internet.
Read more

Posted on Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:26:31 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Nintendo Wii Fit Review

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Our review partner got around to testing the Wii Fit accessory for the Nintendo Wii.

Quote from the review: "Exercise-oriented video games aren't new, but Wii Fit is certainly the most technically advanced one yet. Fun games like snowboarding, Hula Hoop, and tightrope keep it from being tedious. Read more

Posted on Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Wii overtakes Xbox 360 in overall U.S. Sales

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The Nintendo Wii solid sales over the last months made it the best-selling video game console in the U.S. of the current generation of machines.

Including the 660,000 Wii consoles Nintendo sold in June, the Wii has sold 10.9 million units since its November 2006 release in the United States.

The Microsoft Xbox 360 stands at 10.4 million units sold. Microsoft had a one year head start, but it did not help to fend off the Wii. Read more

Posted on Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Wii, Xbox and PS3 Avatars tell a lot about You

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Microsoft made their rumored 3D Avatars official at the E3 2008 briefing on Monday. Now we know how we "look" in the virtual worlds of all three major consoles.

Nintendo made the start with the Mii avatars and Sony already teased us with Playstation Home last year. In the image above you see all three avatar design next to each other. Read more

Posted on Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Logitech Introduces Cordless Keyboard for Wii Chat Games

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Logitech announced a Nintendo licensed wireless keyboard for the Wii that makes for easy typing, browsing and searching. The Logitech cordless Keyboard for Wii uses 2.4 GHz wireless technology and is intended to be used with upcoming chat-oriented games.

The keyboard has special keys for the Wii user like zoom in/out, forward/back, quit and OK making communication with the Wii much easier than using the Wii Remote to point at letters. A mini receiver has to be plugged into the console for the keyboard to function. The device will be available in August for $49.99. Read more

Posted on Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:19:28 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

InvenSense IDG-600 Powers Nintendo Wii MotionPlus

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At E3 this week Nintendo announced a new MotionPlus accessory that promises much more fluid motion recognition by the Wii console. InvenSense announced today that its IDG-600 multi-axis MEMS rate gyroscope is the brains behind the MotionPlus controller.

InvenSense says that the IDG-600 has started shipping to Nintendo in mass quantities for the production of the accessory. InvenSense says that conventional MEMS gyroscopes are larger size, use lots of power and cost a lot. Its new silicon based MEMS gyroscopes are smaller, low cost and need less power. All requirements for a gaming accessory attached to the Wii remote running off AA batteries. Read more

Posted on Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:34:59 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Nintendo rolls out Wii Games, Sony takes to Video

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 By Kiyoshi Takenaka and Jennifer Martinez

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Riding the success of its popular Wii video game console, Nintendo Co Ltd on Tuesday unveiled fresh titles for gamers to throw frisbees and rock on, while rival Sony Corp turned to Hollywood with a new video service.
Read more

Posted on Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:23:14 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Nintendo plans 60-instrument ''Wii Music''

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  By Kemp Powers and Kiyoshi Takenaka

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Nintendo Co Ltd said on Tuesday it plans to launch a music game for its hit Wii game console this year, taking it into the fast-growing software segment pioneered by "Guitar Hero."
Read more

Posted on Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:02:58 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Wii Music is for 3 year olds

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I just was too stunned to report about Wii Music for a moment that Nintendo announced during their E3 2008 briefing.

Wii Music makes playing instruments too easy for my taste. I already have some issues with Guitar Hero, but Wii Music is too forgiving to be fun for grown-ups. It is maybe funny for very little kids. Read more

Posted on Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:13:55 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Wii Sports Resort includes Wii MotionPlus

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Nintendo announces the follow-up to Wii Sports called Wii Sports Resort. Wii Sports Resort comes bundled with the new Wii MotionPlus accessory Nintendo already announced yesterday.

The new Wii Sports game takes advantage of the more accurate wrist tracking of the Wii MotionPlus. Read more

Posted on Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:58:21 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Wii Speak Accessory announced

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The Nintendo press briefing at the E3 2008 is underway and the first hardware accessory for the Wii has been announced. WiiSpeak is a microphone accessory that is made for multiple speakers.

Nintendo imagines groups of people sitting in a room playing and talking to another group somewhere across the world. Read more

Posted on Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:34:54 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr