Bully Heading to Xbox 360 and Wii

Rockstar is porting its infamous 'Bully Simulator' to the Xbox 360 and somewhat surprisingly to the Wii. The game is still a port however it will have new content and will be renamed Bully: Scholarship Edition.

Both the Wii and Xbox 360 versions will retain the wit and deep gameplay of the previously released PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system title and will boast additional new content. Bully: Scholarship Edition takes place in the fictional New England boarding school of Bullworth Academy, and tells the story of 15-year-old Jimmy Hopkins as he experiences the highs and lows of adjusting to a new school. Capturing the hilarity and awkwardness of adolescence perfectly, Bully: Scholarship Edition pulls the player into its cinematic and engrossing world. Universally acclaimed upon first release, Bully: Scholarship Edition is a genre-crossing action game with a warmth and pathos that is unrivaled.

The original Bully was Playstation 2 exclusive and was well recieved by critics. There is the potential downside to the 360 having to deal with a last generation game though the Wii may not suffer as much from this predicament as many of its titles are last generation ports.

Rockstar seems to be continuing its love affair with the Wii, other titles it has already ported or is set to port are Grand Theft Auto: San Andrenas, Rockstar Presents Table Tennis and Manhunt. This is in sharp contrast to last generation where there were no Rockstar titles released on the GameCube. One can't help but wonder what sort of deal Nintendo has struck up with Rockstar to justify all the attention.

Press Release

Rockstar Presents Table Tennis Heading To the Wii

It was only a matter of time no doubt, it was only a matter of time. The Wii will finally find a *real* table tennis game to call its own in the form of 'Rockstar Presents Table Tennis'.

The Wii might lose out in the graphics deparment but there certainly is gameplay potential with the WiiMote.

"Ever since we released Table Tennis, fans have been asking us to create a Wii version," said Sam Houser, Founder and Executive Producer of Rockstar Games. "By bringing Table Tennis to the Wii and utilizing the motion-sensitive Wii Remote™, a new audience can now experience a game that is beautifully designed and impossible to put down."

Full Press Release

PS3 outselling Wii and 360 in Australia

Looks like the $1000 AUD ($800 US) price tag isn't enough to deter Australians. After Nintendo proclaimed the Wii reached 100,000 sales fastest of any console in Australias history Sony has humbly pointed out that the PS3 has been outselling the Wii (save for last week) since its launch. Oh, and it's also being marketted as a Blu-Ray player, not a games console at Harvey Norman.

Launching March 23, 2007 the Playstation 3 has sold 50,000 compared to the Wii launching December 2006 sold 100,000. However last week the Wii did outsell the Wii perhaps indicating the hype behind the Playstation 3 was slowly dying out.

From Sony Australias managnig director Michael Ephraim's mouth

"Since March 23, PS3 has been the number one-selling next-gen console in
Australia, and this is GfK figures. We've now sold 50,000 -- and we're very
excited about the fact that it's being sold in retailers that are gaming
retailers as a gaming device and other things, but as you'll notice it's now
being sold in Harvey Norman consumer electronic stores as a Blu-ray player."

GFK is the Australian equivalent of the NPR*



VIA c|net Australia

Heaps of New Metroid Prime 3 Screenshots

Many, many screenshots, after the announcement that Metroid Prime 3 will be delayed it loooks like someone at Nintendo HQ through extreme feelings of guilt green lighted this massive down pouring of screenshot goodness. Is that Samus shooting phazon!? Epic to say the least!

Resident Evil 4 Wii and Gamecube Video Comparison

Bringing Resident Evil 4 to the Wii presents more benefits than just a new and enhanced control scheme.

Wii Sports - Coming to a Cinema Near You

Nintendo has found a new way to amaze fans and then suddenly kick them in the gnads so hard the contents of the aforementioned comes spewing out of their noses and ears.

In its latest bid to bring the Wii to the masses Nintendo will start advertising the Wii in UK cinemas. Now this isn't the regular advertising where you're stuck there being forced to watch all these ads as you eat your popcorn impatiently (and always run out by the time the movie starts!).

The concept is simple, it starts with a Wii advertisement on the big screen and then suddenly the lights in the cinema turn on and two 'random' individuals - a boy and his mother are brought onto the stage to try Wii-Sports for the first time ever. Best of all the game is played on the big screen!

As you would expect the 'random' individuals are actually actors, so no, theres no chance you'll get to play on the big cinema screen even if you bring your mother along.


VIA Wii-UK

Wii Titles Confirmed for 2007 Release, in Japan

Many AAA titles have been confirmed for a 2007 release in Japan, while it isn't clear if some will make it out in North America and Europe this year it is more than likely Metroid Prime: Corruption and Super Mario Strikers will.

The rest of the list is as follows:

• Donkey Kong Taru Jet Race (DK Jet or DK Bongo Blast, US) - June 28, 2007
• Wii Health Pack -- 2007
• Disaster: Day of Crisis - 2007
• Mario Party 8 - 2007
• Project H.A.M.M.E.R. - 2007
• Wii Music - 2007
• Super Mario Galaxy - 2007
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl - 2007
• Battalion Wars II - 2007
• Forever Blue - 2007
• Mario Strikers Charged - 2007
• Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - 2007
• Mario and Sonic at the Olympics - 2007

Looks like Japanese Wii owners are going to have their hands full for a good few months, thats at least enough AAA titles to keep most people going for a year.


VIA IGN

AGEIA PhysX Behind 'Red Steel' Physics

No joke, Ageia PhysX is behind the physics in Ubisoft's first Nintendo Wii game 'Red Steel'.


Complete list of titles currently using Ageia PhysX

Auto Assault	Net Devil
Bet on Soldier: Blackout Saigon	Kylotonn Entertainment
Bet on Soldier: Blood of Sahara	Kylotonn Entertainment
Bet on Soldier: Blood Sport (Patch)	Kylotonn Entertainment
CellFactor: Combat Training	Artificial Studios, Immersion
City of Villains	Cryptic Studios
Dark Physics	The Game Creators
Gears Of War	Epic Games
Infernal	Metropolis Software
Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire	BEC
Red Steel	Ubisoft Paris
RoboBlitz	Naked Sky
Stoked Rider: Alaska Alien	Bongfish
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter	GRIN
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (single player mode)	Ubisoft Paris
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas	Ubisoft Montreal
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (multiplayer mode)

Ubisoft seems to be making the most of it, Unreal Engine 3 will be utilizing it in full and since Ubisofts current game engine seems to be a UE2 with some UE3 elements thrown in we have a sure fire bet that Ubisoft Wii titles, at least in part, will be powered by UE3.

The following game engines are/will be using AGEIA PhysX technology,

Engine Name	Developer
Unreal Engine 3	Epic Games
Gamebryo	Emergent Entertainment
Reality Engine	Artificial Studios
Eclipse Engine	Bioware
Saber3D	Saber Interactive
Vision Engine 6.0	Trinigy

Wii Games Look Terrible?

I find it amazing how people can make that claim pointing out such and such crappy Playstation 2 port as their 'proof'. If were going to be judging Wii's graphics capabilities we should judge them by their best, who judges the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 by 'Need for Speed Most Wanted', likewise why do people judge the Wii with the lowliest Playstation 2 port? Wii has great looking games, especially when they are developed exclusively for it with the hardware in mind.

Lets take some examples,

Sonic and the Secret Rings is developed exclusively for the Wii, doesn't look half-bad,


Compare it to the Xbox 360 version of Sonic,

Wii is on the left, Xbox 360 on the right

Metroid Prime Corruption also looks great, retro is targeting 60 FPS in the final release,




Super Smash Brothers Brawl doesn't look half bad either,





Finally, Super Mario Galaxy, running at 60fps really shows off what the Wii can do,




Of course there are more games, SSX Blur, Final Fantasy Chrystal Chronicles, Resident Evil amongst many others. Theres still a few years for the Wii and if developers can focus on art direction they can still make beautiful looking Wii games and at the end of the day thats all anyone can really ever ask.

Harry Potter Wii Details

Your wishes have been granted, open ended gameplay and the Wii-mote is, yep, Mr. Potter's wand, with mapped out motions to boot. Of course in keeping with tradition it is a Playstation 2 port with 16:9 and pro scan added as a nice little extra.

Probably the most interesting thing you can do with the wand which also happens to be taken right out of Elebits, you can move objects around in game, chairs, beds, whatever. Though I doubt horny twelve year old boys will be able to pull any skirts up, that will be saved for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions which are rumored to be supporting 'clothes physics' for just that purpose (EA declined to comment on said rumor).

Hogwarts is modeled in its entirety, players are free to roam wherever they want and take on quests in any order the game is permitting however EA is endeavouring on keeping close to the storyline, and yes, there will be a Quiditch minigame.

Dumbledore and Sirius Black are also set to be playable.

Resident Evil Wii Trailer

Did you expect more or did you expect less? Lighting has improved as has the character models though the zombies could use some work, looks better than almost all current Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 titles, minus the HD of course.

Tiger Woods Hits a Bogey With PAL Wii

Looks like EA is short changing Wii owners in PAL regions, Tiger Woods is almost unplayable on large HDTV's due to the lack of 480p. While in NTSC regions Tiger Woods supports 480p and 16:9 aspect ratio in PAL regions it is only 576i 16:9.

So what of it? Well you can barely read text on TV screens at 576i on a larger HDTV, if games don't support progressive scan it won't be a matter of 'won't make the most out of my HDTV and the Wii' it will be a matter of 'I can't play this game'.

Heres an email from EA's customer support when asked about 480p,

Tiger Woods does not support EDTV or HDTV resolutions. The EDTV logo has not been included on the Game Pack for this reason to indicate that there are no Hi-Def functions in this iteration of the title.

I hope this answers your question.
Regards,
Jody
Customer and Community Services, UK and Ireland
http://electronicarts.co.uk
http://electronicarts.ie

———————————

Customer 03/23/2007 03:26 AM

Q: Is TW2007 for Wii (PAL-version) able to run in 480p on not?

For the record:

- My other games works perfect in 480p on my Wii, always.

- I only have problem with 480p on TW2007, so in my case it IS only with your title and NOT a problem with my Wii in general.

Thanks Petter.

Via WiiNintendo

Nintendo Wii Harder to Find than Playstation 3 - in Australia

Well the Playstation 3 just launched, I guess it has sold heaps and heaps, but you probably know that isn't the truth, hardly, there are more Playstation 3's on store shelves than there are Wii's.

It's available at the following locations at the popular 'Dick Smith' electronics retailer:

NT:- Mitchell Centre DSE NSW/ACT:- Armidale DSE, Auburn Powerhouse, Bankstown PowerHouse, Batemans Bay DSE, Bondi Junction DSE, Bowral DSE, Campbelltown DSE, Chatswood PowerHouse, Chullora Showroom DSE, DSE Nowra (FRN), Eastgardens DSE, Erina PowerHouse, Fairfield DSE, Glendale DSE, Greenhills DSE, Hornsby DSE, Kotara DSE, Lismore DSE, Macarthur Square Powerhouse, Macquarie Centre PowerHouse, Mid City Centre DSE, Moore Park PowerHouse, Muswellbrook DSE, Neutral Bay DSE, Newcastle DSE, North Parramatta PowerHouse, North Sydney DSE, Parramatta Westfield DSE, Penrith PowerHouse, Queanbeyan DSE, Rhodes DSE, Rockdale DSE, Shellharbour DSE, St Ives DSE, Tuggeranong DSE, Warringah Mall PowerHouse, Woden PowerHouse VIC:- Altona DSE, Ballarat DSE, Bourke Street DSE, Box Hill DSE, Broadmeadows DSE, Carnegie PowerHouse, Fountain Gate PowerHouse, Frankston DSE, Geelong PowerHouse, Greensborough DSE, Highpoint DSE, Highpoint PowerHouse, Knox City PowerHouse, Melbourne Strand DSE, Mildura DSE, Niddrie DSE, Northland DSE, Nunawading PowerHouse, Preston PowerHouse, Ringwood DSE, Shepparton DSE, Southland PowerHouse, Sunshine DSE, Victoria Gardens DSE, Werribee DSE QLD:- Booval DSE, Brisbane City DSE, Browns Plains DSE, Kingaroy DSE, Kippa Ring DSE, Springwood Powerhouse, Underwood DSE, Yamanto DSE SA:- Arndale DSE, Elizabeth City DSE, Glenelg DSE, Marion DSE, Myer Centre Adelaide DSE WA:- Belmont-WA DSE, Booragoon, Garden City-WA DSE, Claremont DSE, Fremantle DSE, Karrinyup DSE, Midland DSE, Morley DSE, Perth City DSE, Rockingham DSE TAS:- Glenorchy DSE, Hobart DSE, Launceston DSE.

Thats OK I guess, plenty of stores have it in stock, and what about the Wii?

NSW/ACT:- Armidale DSE, Auburn Powerhouse, Bankstown PowerHouse, Batemans Bay DSE, Bondi Junction DSE, Bowral DSE, Chatswood PowerHouse, Erina PowerHouse, Fairfield DSE, Glendale DSE, Greenhills DSE, Hornsby DSE, Liverpool DSE, Macarthur Square Powerhouse, Macquarie Centre PowerHouse, Moore Park PowerHouse, Muswellbrook DSE, Neutral Bay DSE, North Parramatta PowerHouse, Parramatta Westfield DSE, Penrith PowerHouse, Rockdale DSE, Roselands DSE, Shellharbour DSE, St Ives DSE, Tuggeranong DSE, Warringah Mall PowerHouse, Woden PowerHouse, York & Barrack DSE VIC:- Altona DSE, Ballarat DSE, Bendigo DSE, Bourke Street DSE, Box Hill DSE, Carnegie PowerHouse, Dandenong DSE, Fountain Gate PowerHouse, Geelong PowerHouse, Greensborough DSE, Highpoint PowerHouse, Knox City PowerHouse, Malvern DSE, Mildura DSE, Northland DSE, Nunawading PowerHouse, Preston PowerHouse, Southland PowerHouse, Sunbury DSE, Werribee DSE QLD:- Booval DSE, DSE Bundaberg (FRN), Earlville DSE, Kingaroy DSE, Kippa Ring DSE, Noosa DSE, Springwood Powerhouse, Yamanto DSE SA:- Arndale DSE, Elizabeth City DSE, Marion DSE, Myer Centre Adelaide DSE, Westlakes DSE WA:- Belmont-WA DSE, Claremont DSE, Fremantle DSE, Midland DSE, Rockingham DSE TAS:- Hobart DSE, Launceston DSE.

I actually recall at about three weeks after the Wii launch only three stores had 'two or less' in stock, bare in mind the Playstation 3 has just launched here and more stores still have it in stock than the Nintendo Wii.