The iMP PowerFit Battery is the answer to your Wii Fit woes! It is a replacement rechargeable battery for the Wii Balance Board that increases your playing time and, because it is able to be charged over 500 times, cuts out your need to buy replacement batteries.

With more games on the horizon that will make use of the Wii Balance Board (such as Family Ski), its clear that the Balance Board is here to stay. The iMP PowerFit Battery conveniently replaces the four batteries that are required for the Balance Board with just one, meaning you have less time to worry about replacing batteries and more time to play.

Simply plug the battery into the USB port on your Wii using the included cable to charge it – you can even play and recharge the battery at the same time.

The iMP PowerFit Battery costs R199 and is available at ToyZone, AnimeWorx, Kalahari, Take 2 and BT Games.

If you want to store game cartridges and protect your DS at the same time, the iMP Play and Store case is a handy solution. It enables you to store 3 DS game cartridges and your stylus in a tray that pulls out below the bottom of the DS.

The iMP PowerFit Battery is a rechargeable battery for your Wii Balance Board. It can be recharged up to 500 times, is simple to connect and conveniently allows you to play and recharge at the same time.

We have two iMP Play and Store Cases as well as one iMP PowerFit Battery up for grabs. You can find out more details on our competitions page…and don’t forget to tell us if you want a red case or a pink one!

Check out our mini reviews of the Play and Store Case and the iMP PowerFit Battery for more information.

Thanks to MobileG for sponsoring these terrific prizes.

Last year EA announced that it would be developing various Hasbro games for consoles. Nerf N-Strike was one of those games, and caught gamers’ attention because it also happened to be the first NERF blaster action game.

The Wii game features a new custom NERF blaster that allows players to fire actual NERF darts with the controller outside the game (three foam darts are bundled with the blaster). If you want to use it in the traditional sense, that is, for actually playing a video game, you simply slide the Wii Remote into the NERF blaster and voila!

The game features single and multiplayer modes so players can blast away alone or challenge friends. Although the game’s target market is kids between the ages of 8 and 12, the NERF blaster makes sure that gamers a bit older than that will also enjoy the title.

Developed by EA’s Salt Lake Studio, Nerf N-Strike is scheduled to be available for the Wii and DS this fall. You will be able to pick up a copy of Nerf N-Strike, bundled with one gun, for $59.99 or buy the NERF add-on without the game for $14.99.

Source: Multiplayerblog

Yesterday at Leipzig, Sega took the wraps off The House of the Dead: OVERKILL, a new “pulp-horror reinvention of the classic SEGA light-gun shooter franchise.”

Created by Headstrong Games, The House of the Dead: OVERKILL promises to be “jam-packed with arcade style shooting, over-the-top gore and a whole lot of zombies!” The game is a prequel to previous House of the Dead titles so will take gamers back to the beginning of this series and uncover the secrets behind the House of the Dead when it is released exclusively on the Wii in early 2009.

According to Sega, the game will get a new retro look taking audiences back to horror movies from the 70’s and 80’s. It will feature “distinctive graphics, sound and attitude that will add to its horror status” but will also stay true to its original game play. Special Agent G (fresh out of the academy) and Detective Washington team up to investigate a series of mysterious disappearances in Bayou City, Louisiana – unaware that zombies await them in the streets and swamps.

Use the Wii Remote to fight off zombies, whether that be hand-to-hand combat or using the trusty shotgun. Players will be able to use “Slow-Mofo Time” to get in the perfect head-shot ot “Evil Eye” to send environments up in flames. The game will also feature a co-op mode where two players can take on the zombies together.

If you are a House of the Dead fan you won’t want to miss the debut trailer, but if you have a nervous disposition you might want to give this one a skip!

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Yesterday at the launch of Super Smash Bros. Brawl we got the chance to sit down with Matthew Grose, General Manager of Core Gaming Systems, and ask some hard-hitting questions.

So, without further ado, straight from their mouths to your eyes.

Titles and pricing

The first question was regarding why we haven’t seen DS titles that have already been released in Europe arrive in South Africa yet. Titles specifically mentioned include the popular Phoenix Wright series and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Interest was also shown in Professor Layton and the Curious Village, which has not yet been released in Europe to the best of my knowledge, but which Core Gaming has luckily received one copy of to try out and which they describe so far as addictive. Grose answered that Core Gaming’s strategy is to bring the historical titles into SA first so these titles will follow after the back titles have been released here.

Next up was a query about the pricing of both the Wii and DS. Grose explained that Core Gaming works out the prices based on the European market. Core Gaming is given European prices and must add import charges as well as their own and retailers’ margins to the pot. He assures us that our prices are within 10% of Europe and reminds us that we should only look at European prices, not those of America or Japan.

Each time the exchange rate has increased, Core Gaming has absorbed this loss, bearing in mind that the exchange rate has just started to come down over the past week and that they have been dealing with fluctuating exchange rates since the Wii and DS were launched here last year. Both retailers and Core Gaming have been slashing their margins in an attempt to stay true to the consumer.

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Earlier in the week we brought you tidings of a listing for Link’s Crossbow Training surfacing on Nintendo’s website. Yesterday at the launch of Super Smash Bros. Brawl we got the scoop on when the game will officially arrive here and how much we can expect to pay.

Link’s Crossbow Training should start appearing on South African shelves this October. The game will retail at R349, a fairly reasonable price tag considering it comes bundled with the Wii Zapper.

The Wii Zapper is a gun-like apparatus that the Wii Remote and Nunchuk fit snugly inside (with the Nunchuk’s chord wrapped safely inside a handy compartment). The latest accessory from Nintendo allows you to play arcade style games in your living room.

The Wii Remote slides on top of the gun, the barrel as it were, while the Nunchuk forms the gun handle. There is a grip beneath the barrel for your right hand, while your left hand wraps around the lower handle and the Nunchuk.

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Wii Fit has become something of a global phenomenon since its launch, with consumers from around the world eager to get the product into their hands and homes. This popularity comes despite the new health and fitness game from Nintendo, the brainchild of Shigeru Miyamoto, being dogged with supply constraints from the get go.

It seems that even Nintendo did not anticipate the warm welcome the game would receive. According to Matthew Grose, General Manager of Core Gaming Systems, Wii Fit sold out in the UK within a week while Europe’s stock was cleaned out in two weeks. South African stock disappeared off the shelves within three to four weeks and both retailers’ stock and Core Gaming’s warehouse stock is now exhausted.

Grose estimates that roughly 8 000 units have been sold in South Africa to date and attributes the higher sales figures in the UK and Europe to pre-ordering and internet sales, a phenomenon which has yet to take off in SA. You have only to read numerous media reports to know that the US was not exempt from the problem, with most retailers selling out of stock within a few hours of it arriving at stores and many gamers still not able to locate a copy today.

Grose believes that sales figures in PAL territories were driven by the fact that the game was launched in Europe before the US. However, Nintendo soon switched the manufacturing supply over to the US, leading to rising demands across Europe and the UK. He reassured us that the manufacturing has just been switched back to PAL, so we should see more stock hitting the shelves soon and a greater continuity of stock as well.

Grose also pointed out that the attachment rate of Wii Fit is currently about 20% (ie. 20% of Wii owners own Wii Fit), something which Core Gaming expects will increase to 40% once there is a continuity of stock here.

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In a conference at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival, Sandy Spangler of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) and one of the lead designers on EyeToy: Play, revealed two titles in development at Sony that will take further advantage of the EyeToy’s motion tracking capabilities.

Currently, the EyeToy tracks player motion by detecting a change in colour of the scene it’s viewing, converting this to game input on the part of the player flapping and waving in front of the camera. The problem comes in when trying to differentiate between specific body parts and using this information to interact with games in a more meaningful way.

What Spangler and co. are working on is using a ‘fluorescent-green foam toy sword’ to play the part of a recognisable object for the camera to track easily, as it is able to track such a uniquely coloured object and its movement. Two projects are currently underway; Pom-Pom Party (presumably involving cheerleading in some fashion) and Hero, a first-person RPG-like game, using the foam sword to act as a real sword in-game.

The technology allows the game to track the toy sword on a 1:1 basis, meaning that every motion performed by the player with the sword will be translated into in-game movement, as opposed to using pre-scripted animations. In Hero, players will be able to use the sword to interact in a variety of ways - including the obvious attack/block gameplay, but also more uniquely - such as a section of gameplay shown involving using the sword as a light beacon, but then having to hide the sword behind your back so that the EyeToy can’t see it, and neither can the monsters.

This is a pretty exciting piece of technology, but will undoubtedly introduce even more peripherals (that approximate real-world items) into your home.

Source: Dark Zero

If you haven’t seen anything to do with the awesome Wii game MadWorld, coming from ex-Capcom group Platinum Games, then have gander:

How awesome! Some people, however, don’t share the enthusiasm the gaming world has shown for MadWorld. Mediawatch-UK, Britain’s longest running pressure group, campaign for decency in TV, films and games. According to them, MadWorld just isn’t decent, with John Beyer, the director of Mediawatch-UK saying, “I believe it will spoil the family fun image of the Wii.”

“I hope the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) will view this with concern and decide it should not be granted a classification,” said Beyer. “Without that it cannot be marketed in Britain. What the rest of world does is up to them. We need to ensure that modern and civilized values take priority rather than killing and maiming people. It seems a shame that the game’s manufacturer have decided to exclusively release this game on the Wii.”

Essentially, Mediawatch-UK doesn’t want MadWorld to be released in the UK when it’s released worldwide early next year on the Wii.

Source: Daily Mail

According to Nintendo’s website, South African gamers will soon get the chance to try out the Wii Zapper when Link’s Crossbow Training hits our shelves this month.

Link’s Crossbow Training comes bundled with the latest accessory for the Wii, the Wii Zapper. The Wii Remote and Nunchuk fit snugly inside this gun-like apparatus (with the Nunchuk’s chord wrapped safely inside a handy compartment) and voila, you can play arcade style games in your living room.

The Wii Remote slides on top of the gun, the barrel as it were, while the Nunchuk forms the gun handle. There is a grip beneath the barrel for your right hand, while your left hand wraps around the lower handle and the Nunchuk.

Set in the Hyrule realm from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, this shooting-gallery-style game sees players stepping into the shoes of hero Link to guide him through a series of crossbow shooting tasks.

The Wii Zapper is also compatible with various other Wii games including Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Ghost Squad, Medal of Honour Heroes 2 and House of the Dead 2 & 3 Returns.

More details about an exact date and pricing when it hits the wires.

[UPDATE] Core Gaming has confirmed that Link’s Crossbow Training will arrive on South African shelves this October. It will cost R349 and will come bundled with the Wii Zapper.

After one or two delays, and much crying from fans, the Homestar Runner game has been released. Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People: Homestar Ruiner (the full title) is the first of 5 episodes delving into the universe of Homestar Runner, represented in a 3D, videogame manner. The next four episodes will be released over the next four months.

The game takes the form of an old-style point-and-click adventure game, but with all the characters, humour and mini-games you (may) have come to expect from the series of cartoons. The game is available on WiiWare for 1000 points ($10) or on PC for $8.95, via Telltale Games.

Mushroom Men is the tale of mushrooms, plant-life, insects and other animals gaining sentience from the green, glowing emanations of a crashed meteor. These once docile creations, now that they have minds of their own, have turned to primal instincts, forming warlike communities.

In the Wii version, the player takes the role of a misfit kind of character that is destined to stop the escalating ‘Spore Wars,’ while naturally learning more about himself along the journey. Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars for the Wii and Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi for the DS (featuring a different story perspective) will be available from October this year.

The screenshots look interesting enough.

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If you’ve never seen even one episode of the series of cartoons released on HomeStarRunner.com, you’re missing out.

The ‘toons follow the tales of one Homestar Runner (tall, wearing a hat and no pants) and one Strong Bad (short, wearing boxing gloves and Luchador mask) as they go about their peculiar lives set in a peculiar environment with peculiar characters.

Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People, the game, will be released in a series of five episodes, the first of which will be out on August 11th for Wii and PC, called ‘Homestar Runner.’ Telltale Inc., the creators of the episodic Sam and Max series, are handling development duties.

Check out a trailer below to get an idea of the ‘humour’ and basic game play.

Core Gaming has confirmed that Nintendo plans to bring Nintendo Online Services and Wii Connect 24 functionalities to South Africa. Although we are not sure when the much anticipated online services will arrive here, Core Gaming believes that it will be in the “near future.”

According to Matthew Grose, General Manager of Core Gaming Systems, bringing online services here is a big undertaking that involves administration and logistics efforts from Nintendo of Europe, Core Gaming as well as the Film and Publications Board. “We are working hard to make this service available and will definitely keep you informed as soon as we have an idea about timelines.”

Grose added, “From my side - WC24 is a massive priority and we want to offer this to the SA community to highlight and showcase true Wii potential.” However, he urged us to bear in mind that it is “largely Nintendo of Europe driven.”

Core Gaming also had to liaise with Nintendo of Europe with respect to Club Nintendo and the Stars Catalogue which launched in South Africa in late June. Despite starting small, more elements are winging their way to the Stars Catalogue soon. It seems as if the adoption of the Stars Catalogue was just the beginning for South African Nintendo gamers, and could be used as an indicator of how quickly Wii Connect 24 can happen.

Many South African gamers are connecting to the online services by logging in through another country but Core Gaming does not know how many gamers are currently utilising online features in this way.

If you cast your mind back a few weeks you will remember that Fayyaad Hendricks was the lucky winner in our Super Mario Galaxy competition.

Well now that he has had the chance to take the game for a spin, let’s find out what he thought about it. You can compare Fayyaad’s thoughts (below) to Pete’s in El33tonline’s review of Super Mario Galaxy.

Did the game live up to the hype?

It was expected that Super Mario Galaxy would receive good reviews; Nintendo’s chief mascot’s appearance on the Wii has been a well-anticipated game. Thanks to El33tonline, I’ve been able to play around with this game for a bit to see for myself what all the hype was about. I admit that I wasn’t disappointed. Galaxy delivers in terms of sheer fun. But then again, this review wouldn’t be worth reading if all I did was praise the game. Other Mario fanboys have that angle covered. But for completeness sakes, the good points about the game are that it can be consumed in bite-sized, 5 to 10-minute chunks per level, saving occurs frequently, and the levels are, for the most part, varied and designed to a degree to present enough of a challenge, but I’ll get back to this point again later.

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