In the latest edition of Touch Ruminations, former DS and Wii Fanboy Lead David Hinkle talks about how lousy Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop looks and why the Wii needs to be taken more seriously. Basically, he just rants about stuff. The opinions expressed here belong to the author and don't necessarily reflect those of Joystiq, Weblogs Inc. or its affiliates.

You've seen it, right? Horrible, I know. How does something like this even happen? I don't have all of the answers, but being an individual that has worked in the Wii trenches for years now, I can tell you one thing: this isn't helping the Wii to get the respect it deserves.

GameSetWatch has been running an interesting two-part column on the success and failure of the Wii in its first two years on store shelves (2nd anniversary arriving soon, read our 1st anniversary theme week here!). The second part of the piece, which focuses on the negatives, has a couple of interesting tidbits worth pointing out.

The first thing the piece focuses on is waggle and how the early promises of a more immersed experience for the gamer have not been fulfilled. We're willing to concede that, because of how great the console has sold in such a small period of time and how many developers and publishers have proceeded to churn out shovelware and dirty ports just in an attempt to cash in. There are always exceptions to the rule, however, with not only Nintendo showing us the amazing and unique things that can be done with the control scheme, as well as some other third party developers and their titles (Zack & Wiki, Let's Tap, and No More Heroes, just to name a few).

We won't spoil the rest of the piece for you, but, to be honest, it's really good. It calls the Wii out for a lot of its shortcomings, and not in a totally biased tone. And, if bashing the Wii doesn't sound like an interesting topic for an article to you, read the first part, where it's nothing but Wii love.

Source - Two Years In - The Wii's Successes
Source - Two Years In - How the Wii Has Failed

In these belt-tightening, penny-pinching times, it literally pays to have a nose for the bargains. That's where we, or rather Gamefly, comes in. The game rental outfit has a broad selection of used Wii software for low, world banking crisis-friendly prices, and we chose ten of the best sub-$20 games to tempt you. Thar be bargains ahead!

• Baroque for $12.99
• Battalion Wars 2 for $17.99
• Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy for $9.99
• Dewy's Adventure for $13.99
• Geometry Wars: Galaxies for $16.99
• Mercury: Meltdown Revolution for $15.99
• NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams for $12.99
• No More Heroes for $17.99
• Sega Superstars Tennis for $9.99
• Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure for $17.99

There's actually a ton more we could have mentioned, including Super Mario Galaxy for $32.99, Super Smash Bros. Brawl for $30.99, and Metroid Prime 3 for $26.99. Sadly, "One hundred and fifty-eight for under forty-two" just doesn't work as a headline. Hit up the "Source" link for the full set.


[Thanks, William!]

With the Wii being out on shelves for some time now, the system has had plenty of time to surprise us. A few of its games that we've been pleasantly surprised by are now among some of our most treasured gaming experiences. What games have released on the system and surprised you? Was it in a totally good way, like us, or have things surprised you in a negative way? Let's hear it!

At least one analyst thinks it is, and he's not short of support. Cowen Group analyst Doug Creutz's comments were prompted by the latest NPD figures, in which the Xbox 360, PS3, and PlayStation 2 versions of Madden NFL 09 hogged the top three positions, with the Wii version relegated to ninth place, behind Wii Play, Wii Fit, and Mario Kart Wii. "We continue to believe that the Wii is a relatively inhospitable platform for third-party publishers," said Creutz.

Is he stating the obvious, or does the success of certain third-party titles suggest otherwise? In the past, we've found many fans pin the blame for low third-party sales on third-party developers, suggesting that better quality products would compete with Nintendo's own wares. Can the same be said, however, when even critically acclaimed titles such as No More Heroes and Zack & Wiki sell poorly?

This week, graphics professionals and enthusiasts flocked to SIGGRAPH to share and discuss the latest technologies and techniques for making gorgeous computer graphics. The focus of the convention is mainly offline rendering (the stuff that we see in print, movies, and television that's too complex to be rendered in real time), but as computers and game consoles become more powerful, many of these methods and effects make their way into the realm of realtime rendering. Ten years ago, the opening cutscene for Super Mario Galaxy would have needed to be rendered by a cluster of computers and converted into full motion video.

Even though the Wii is not pushing graphical fidelity the way this generation's HD consoles are, we've still come a long way and there's much to be appreciated. There are all sorts of graphical effects that, over the years, have been added to the game artist's palette, and in this edition of Revolutionary, I'd like to draw your attention to a few of them.

When games like Super Mario Galaxy come along, we find ourselves questioning how it's possible for them to look so good, while most other Wii wares have the appearance of games designed for a much weaker platform. It's easy to forget that the Wii's hardware comes from the strong pedigree of Gamecube when much of what we're looking at reeks of Playstation number two.

With multi-platform shovelware, and even a few high profile titles that didn't get any special consideration on the Wii (Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band, I'm lookin' at you!), developers often drop assets and effects to a lowest common denominator. In the class which Wii is placed, the Playstation 2 has the lowest and most common specs, so our Wii graphics are brought down to its level. The PS2 has had its share of beautiful games, but the methods for making them so beautiful are uncommon enough that they're largely ignored when making games that will have to be replicated on another console in the same class.

It's often the first and second party games or that rare, exclusive third-party effort that is given the budget and time to explore the depths of the Wii's fixed-function graphics hardware and pull off something it wasn't expressly designed for. And considering that the core technologies in the Wii were designed nearly a decade ago, there's a lot of "new tricks" that artists and programmers have had to teach the "old dog."

Sure, there's tons of shovelware on the Wii, but there are some genuine third-party gems, as well. Zack & Wiki, Boom Blox and No More Heroes are just a few of the quality, non first-party titles available on the console. More or less, have you been satisfied with what third-parties have done on the Wii? Do you think they're turning things around when it comes to releasing quality product on the console? Do you think third party titles will never be able to live up to the quality standards of Nintendo's own first party titles?

Our latest giveaway was perhaps our best in existence. Not because we had so many entries, but because we got to unload 5 copies of an amazing game on you all. It's impossible to gauge how excited we were to do that. Hopefully, these 5 winners will be just as excited to get their hands on the game:

• sib64
• Critter3
• Juddmensch
• Kaoz
• BebopFox

So, there you have it. Congrats to our winners and better luck next time to those of you who didn't win. But, most importantly, we'd like to thank each and every one of you for making your way to our little corner of the internet on a regular basis. We love the community that has formed here and cherish it each and every day,

Oh, and if you're reading this and are one of these winners, check your email! We might be waiting to hear back from you!

For all of you looking to get a free copy of Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure , which is easily one of the best Wii games, then head on over to the original contest post. The giveaway ends this evening, so you're running out of time. Best of luck to you all and, as always, thanks for reading Wii Fanboy!

What's this? We're giving away one of the console's best games? You bet we are! After seeing the sale for the game during last week's E3, the team leaped into action to scrounge up as many copies as we could to give away to those of you who refuse to listen to us. It was only $10, folks! But, if you still didn't get a copy, now's your chance to partake in one of the Wii's most fun and challenging games.

We have a total of 5 copies of Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (retail value is $10 each) to give away. What do you have to do to enter for your chance at one of these five copies? It's simple, just leave a comment telling us how many times you check Wii Fanboy each day. Simple enough, right?

Now, you can enter only once per day (leaving more than one comment in a day automatically disqualifies you for that day) and the giveaway is only open to current and legal residents of the United States and Canada (excluding Quebec). You also have to be 18 years of age or older. The giveaway will be open from now until 11:59pm ET on Sunday, July 27th. We'll announce the winners (selected via random drawing) on the next day. Remember, folks: keep an eye on your email!

If you meet all of this criteria, then we suggest you hit up the official rules and get to entering! We wish you the best of luck and thank you for reading Wii Fanboy!

You know what you've forgotten to do this week? Amidst all that hustle and bustle of E3, you haven't had time for anything else except a few rounds of Smash Bros, possibly to let off some steam after getting all distraught over Nintendo's press conference. You haven't had time to buy any games!

It just so happens that Toys R Us has one of the absolute best Wii games ever at a corking price. We originally thought $19.99 was a bargain for Zack and Wiki, but that price is old news. It's now time to contribute to the Buy Zack and Wiki Campaign by picking this excellent adventure up for $10. You can't afford not to.


[Thanks, Mike!]

Oh, Zack & Wiki, what an overflowing treasure chest of delights you were; your demanding (yet fulfilling) puzzles and vibrant, cute visual style won us over in a heartbeat. Even though you consistently made us feel thick, we'd still do anything to spend just another hour in your puzzley company. Even that meanie Yahtzee liked you!

Alas, a new adventure featuring the pirate and his monkey is looking increasingly unlikely. Capcom bossman Christian Svensson seemed to rule out a follow-up on the Capcom forums, noting that he "[wasn't] so sure there will be [a sequel] on any reasonable timeline." That doesn't mean we'll never get one, of course, but we wouldn't go expecting Zack & Wiki 2 in the next decade or anything rash like that. We can't say we blame Capcom, either -- remember how the company was forced to drop the game's price just three months after it launched in the States? That's probably not an experience it wants to revisit.


[Via Nintendo Everything]

While we thought sales of Steven Spielberg's Boom Blox was less than stellar (in all fairness, it did sell about twice that of Zack and Wiki in its first month), Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitello said the game has met internal expectations. Speaking at a William Blair Investor Conference today, he said "It's continued to sell well. It did break into the top 10 for the Wii, and the advertising is doing exactly what [our] team expected to: drive sales."

MTV Multiplayer spoke with a few analysts who were decidedly less impressed with the sales so far. Pacific Crest Securities, who initially predicted 250,000 in unit sales, said, "It appears that success on the Wii will remain difficult to achieve." Michael Pachter, who wasn't too hopeful in the first place, wondered if it was a marketing problem on EA's part.

Joystiq's official in-house analysts all agree that the game would have sold a minimum 3 bajillion more copies had it kept head tracking. Maybe it's going multi-platform, after all. Riccitello also said the game could sell several hundred thousands, and given Zack and Wiki's continued sales, he may have a point.

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:
In my last column I suggested that, if Microsoft is to make a Wii-like controller, it should still continue to focus on the "traditional" types of games that have so far made the 360 a success, because Nintendo had already basically wrapped up the "casual" crowd. I also mentioned that the only Wii games that are apparently selling are Nintendo games and some casual games. And with that in mind, the New York Times published an article on Monday detailing that, while the Wii hardware is selling well, even seemingly popular Wii software still has some trouble continuing to sell to the Wii audience.

Likely sensing our discontent over the lack of pearl necklaces included with US copies of Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure, GameStop is now offering the adventure game for only $19.99!

Just three months ago, Capcom marked down Zack & Wiki to $29.99 from its original $39.99 pricing. Could this be another universal price drop, soon to kick into effect at other retailers?

Though GameStop has discounted copies available online, you can save on shipping by picking one up at a brick and mortar location nearby. Make sure to ask the clerk if the shop will throw in a pearl necklace with the deal.


[Via CAG]