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AP Photo/Charles Rex ArbogastI wonder if Matt Forte celebrates like this after a good game of “Call of Duty.”

That’s what I say every time I hand Matt Forte the ball in “Madden 12″ then watch as the most underpaid player in the real NFL pays off big-time on the cyber field, trucking over Chad Greenway and the rest of the virtual Vikings on his way to paydirt.

I built my “Madden” Bears around the superstar back, abusing defenses with my ability to break Forte out into the open with a variety of running plays and screen passes, grinding him in the game even more than his real team. Only difference is, I actually gave Forte’s digital doppelganger a new contract.

The real Matt Forte laughs when I tell him about how I annoy my friends with the constant shouting of “Pay the man!” during games, even if my favorite “Madden” character isn’t even a fan of the game I obsess over.

“I’m more of a ‘Call of Duty’ guy,” Forte tells me. “The fact that you can go online with your teammates and friends and battle each other with weapons is a lot more fun. It’s not real life, so for us to go online and run around and shoot each other all night is cool. or, we can go on as a team and play together and protect each other in the game. Either way, we have a great time.”

Forte puts his shooting skills to the test on a daily basis against teammates such as Johnny Knox, Devin Hester, Earl Bennett and Kellen Davis, saying it was Davis who introduced him to the franchise back with “World at War.”

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AUSTIN – it wasn’t like it was a secret.

Texas’ offensive linemen owned a reputation, earned over several years, of being too nice and too soft. Mason Walters, a 6-6, 315-pound guard susceptible to occasionally grouchy moments, did not dispute that categorization.

But unlike others who tried to explain what one of the most maligned units in college football was doing wrong, Walters didn’t blame the problems on personality. in the end, it was all about competence.

“You’re not going to be very mean or nasty if you’re not very good at what you do,” Walters said. “Now, we’re at least decent at it.”

For the first time in ages, the Longhorns’ big bodies are performing well enough to verge on surliness. after clearing the way for UT’s first back-to-back 400-yard rushing games in 34 years, Walters and his once-pitied compatriots on the offensive line are embracing their new identities as bullies.

During a 5-7 implosion last season, UT looked like it couldn’t block anyone. even before that, when the Longhorns made it to the national championship game in 2009, they did so relying on a spread offense in which the linemen struggled to create running lanes and gave up nine sacks to Nebraska in the big 12 title game.

Reaping the benefits

Now, though, no. 16 UT (6-2, 3-2 big 12) boasts the nation’s 11th-ranked rushing attack and a group of linemen thoroughly enjoying their new offense.

“Well, hell yeah,” guard David Snow said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Even though it might have looked like it, the fun didn’t start overnight. Coach Mack Brown said the Longhorns “were really soft” as recently as last spring, and he implored new offensive play-caller Bryan Harsin and new line coach Stacy Searels to help him change that.

“We needed to be good at something,” Brown said. “Last year, we weren’t good at anything.”

Searels, who’d spent eight years in the SEC at LSU and Georgia, hammered the linemen on technique, and Harsin made running the ball a priority. Together, they came up with a more aggressive game plan Snow said made a huge difference.

“The scheme is more downhill now,” Snow said. “It gives us a chance just to fire off and hit somebody in the mouth, whereas before we were going sideways.”

Personnel adjustments were key, too. Freshman Dominic Espinosa’s emergence at center enabled Snow to move to guard. Freshman Josh Cochran made a surprise impact at left tackle. two games ago, UT moved 6-7, 300-pound backup guard Luke Poehlmann to tight end, where he’s thrived as a blocker.

And then, of course, there’s the running of Malcolm Brown, Joe Bergeron and Fozzy Whittaker.

“Good backs help,” Mack Brown said.

In last week’s 52-20 victory over Texas Tech, the recently pass-happy Longhorns threw the ball just nine times. the linemen didn’t mind.

“If we’re hitting 10-12 yards every play,” Snow said, “then why the hell change it?”

The Oilers were due for a step forward with all that young talent, one of the surprises in the first month of the NHL season. (Al Charest/QMI Agency)

CALGARY – Some hockey followers believe you don’t get a read on a team until U.S. Thanksgiving.

Others believe the tell-tale sign is how a club performs from Games 21 through 40.

Still, it’s wild to see what took place in the opening month of the 2011-12 NHL season.

At or near the top of the standings are a bunch of teams not expected to be there prior to puck-drop.

The Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and even the Florida Panthers are all in that boat. It’s incredible how they’ve come out of the blocks.

The Oilers were due for a step forward with all that young talent, while the Avs should have been expected to bounce back to the playoff picture, and there was a thought the Leafs would be in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Bigger surprises have been in Ottawa, Florida and Dallas. either way, they all deserve mounds of credit for the early season achievements.

As somebody who watched closely as the 2001-02 Flames started with a 13-2-4-2 record but gradually fell apart to the point they were again golfing early, I know it’s not likely all those teams will sustain their early success through the first week of April.

Who knows? maybe the Oil will start to fall apart during their six-game road trip. It’s hard to imagine they’ll remain atop the league in goals-against or be able to keep winning with so little offence.

Perhaps the Stars will plummet on their pending four-game trip, the Avs will struggle during a home-heavy schedule this month, the Maple Leafs’ offensive attack will fizzle, the Senators will fall apart starting with that loss in Boston or the Panthers will have their clock strike midnight. or maybe they’ll all remain just as strong until the regular season ends.

Admit it, new blood in the playoff mix is fun to have.

FLAMING C-NOTES

It’s curious to think about what the Flames will do when centre Mikael Backlund returns from injury. The obvious move to get down to the 23-man roster would be to send rookie Roman Horak to the minors since he doesn’t have to clear waivers, but that would go against the plans to keep players based on merit. that means figuring a way to get rid of one of the three veterans on one-way contracts — Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman and Pierre-Luc Leblond … not a good sign when your best line the past few games involves both Tim Jackman and Tom Kostopoulos. not a slight against them but more indictment on the other forwards not pulling their weight.

HOCKEY TALKY

Talk about being torn. As much as the thought of seeing John Tortorella get to another Stanley Cup final makes the skin crawl, it would be fun to see the New York Rangers face the San Jose Sharks. Joe Thornton’s assessment of the Rangers being soft started a war of words which would make a final meeting even better … Speaking of the Rangers, thankfully Sean Avery is back in the NHL after his banishment in the minors. we were almost feeling sorry for him. Oh wait, we were glad he was out of sight for a couple of weeks …

Cheers to Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau for having the guts to leave Alexander Ovechkin on the bench for the final minute while his team had the goalie pulled and needed a game-tying tally. It will pay dividends for the Caps if Ovechkin realizes he’s not going to be given every opportunity if he’s not performing up to standards …

Another great war of words took place after the Nashville Predators beat the struggling Anaheim Ducks. Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf told the Orange County Register: “I’m tired of watching Jordin Tootoo out there, a guy who runs around and hits and does everything else, but the first little slash, he’s laying on the ice and he’s out the next shift. It’s embarrassing, and I’m sick of it.”

Written by Dylan Garner | Sunday, October 30, 2011

Namco Bandai recently held a live streaming session through Ustream.com, showing off the newest entry in their fighting series SoulCalibur V. unfortunately, it was broadcast in Japanese, so unless you can understand it you’ll probably miss out on a lot of the specific gameplay mechanics they talk about. however, we do get a few minutes to check out everyone’s favorite assassin, Ezio Auditore. (Check him out at around 29 minutes in the video below.)

Even if it isn’t a ton of footage, it is pretty exciting seeing how well they transferred Ezio over to SoulCalibur. Many of the weapons and actions you are familiar with from the Assassin’s Creed games have carried over into SoulCalibur V. Ezio’s main attack weapons appear to be his hidden blade along with his sword. The hidden blade serves as Ezio’s shorter attack, while the sword is his longer range and more powerful basic attack. Ezio’s movement in general is very fluid, and this can easily be seen in the way his throws are performed in the video. During these throws he also busts out his deadly hidden gun, yet another one of his vast array of weapons.

Namco also demonstrated his “Critical Edge” technique, which is essentially the SoulCalibur equivalent of a Street Fighter Ultra Combo. During the attack, Ezio strikes Z.W.E.I. (a new character to the series) with his blade multiple times before finishing the combo off with a deadly shot from his crossbow.

I’m not one to say whether Ezio is going to be a great character in the game or a flop. however, just like Kratos’ brutality was a perfect fit for Mortal Kombat, Ezio Auditore’s fluidity and style was a perfect fit for Soul Calibur. for those interested, the full video is about an hour and thirty minutes long, so SoulCalibur fans will want to check out everything else Namco showed off during the lengthy stream.

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Part of the initial appeal of a new Mario game is pressing buttons and watching what happens. In Super Mario 3D Land, the most magical button is the 3D slider.

The Nintendo 3DS lets you adjust the “volume” of the system’s glasses-free 3D visual effects by using a sliding control that sits to the right of the screen. If you’ve played other 3DS games at length, you’re probably used to just setting the 3D slider somewhere comfortable and forgetting about it. But Super Mario 3D Land, designed from the bottom up for this new display, seems to want you to constantly play with the 3D slider to see what happens when you go back and forth between two and three dimensions.

For example: everybody loves 1up mushrooms, those green fungal givers of extra life. When you see one sitting tantalizingly across the room, you make a beeline for it. But when I took 3D Land (to be released November 13) for a test drive, I encountered lots of fake 1ups painted on wooden boards, like theatrical backdrops. If the system was set to 2D display, you couldn’t tell. In 3D, you can better see the depth, or lack thereof, of the ersatz toadstools.

During my first demo at E3, I saw a similarly fake Goomba enemy and tried to jump on it, but of course ended up leaping over it. In this new demo, there was a 1up mushroom sitting high up on a pyramid, and I had to shoot myself out of a cannon to reach it. Only mid-flight, when it was too late, did I find that it was a fake.

If Nintendo intended players to just choose their level of 3D display and leave it there (or simply turn it off and play in 2D), these mushrooms would just be a dirty trick with varying levels of effectiveness. But I think Nintendo has put them there because it wants players to have a reason to reach up and touch the slider: “Is that mushroom in the distance worth going after, or is it a fake? Hmm, maybe I’ll bump up the 3D and see if I can tell.”

Nintendo has sold almost 27 million copies of New Super Mario Bros. on Nintendo DS. so it’s reasonable to assume that quite a few 3DS owners will buy 3D Land. getting as many of those people as possible to want to reach over and mess around with the 3D slider is an important goal for Nintendo, because the company is currently struggling to make the case for why 3D in games is more than just a visual gimmick. It needs to illustrate that the screen is a game-changer.

A little perspective changes Mario’s view on this room. Nintendo

Another example: in a later level, I went down one of the series’ trademark green warp pipes to find myself in what looked to be a simple, small bonus room—a pyramid of blocks with a bonus Star Coin on top of it. But I kept walking through the block I had to stand on. Stepping on a small panel that rotated the game’s camera around, the answer was clear: The block appeared to be stacked with the rest, but was actually floating in front of them.

A simple puzzle. But I don’t think that was the point of the room. Even after getting the coin, I sat there in the room for a while, flipping the 3D slider on and off. Off, I couldn’t see where the block really was. On, I could just sort of see that it wasn’t really in the same space as everything else, that it was floating a little closer to me. again, I kept playing with the slider to see what happened.

A tale of tails

Even besides the experimental use of 3D elements, Super Mario 3D Land is quite a different experience from its predecessors. It might best be described as a hybrid of New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Galaxy. while you have freedom to move around in 3D space, the levels are laid out in a linear fashion and you often view the action from the side. while some levels take a more non-linear approach and play with the camera angles, this happens gradually as you play through the game; clearly, Nintendo is trying to ease the casual players into the more complicated gameplay styles.

Nintendo’s always been accused of playing the nostalgia card a little too often. In announcing that Super Mario 3D Land would feature the return of the Tanooki Suit, the raccoon costume that first granted Mario the gift of flight in 1990’s Super Mario Bros. 3, Nintendo opened itself up again to the idea that it was simply engaged in base pandering.

And perhaps it is, but there’s a solid gameplay reason for it. The Tanooki Suit, in this game, doesn’t let you actually fly. What it does is let you glide down slowly by flapping your tail. This is an attempt to solve one of the fundamental problems of 3D jumping games: landing in the right place. With the extra finesse of the Suit, it’s a little easier to land accurately.

Suit up! The Tanooki Suit lets you hover over Super Mario 3D Land’s platforms and die less.Nintendo

That’s all well and good, you may be saying, but what if you don’t have the suit? As it turns out, you probably will: the leaf-shaped power-up items that grant you the power are scattered from hell to breakfast across 3D Land’s levels. And if you do take damage and lose the power, you can hold an item in reserve and access it by tapping the touchscreen.

You can also shoot fireballs by collecting a fire Flower, and if you want, you can swap back and forth between fire and flight, just as long as you don’t get hit or collect a different reserve item.

So yes, Mario will likely spend a good deal of this game in a hot, sweaty fursuit. Just imagine how that will smell by the time World 8-4 rolls around.

3D Land is divided up into some number of Worlds, each of which contains at least four standard levels and a boss encounter. We’ve seen in screenshots that some of these levels will take place aboard an airship, although I didn’t get to play any of those. What I did get to play was a more straightforward raid on a Koopa castle, the basics of which will be familiar to anyone: Dodging fireballs, jumping lava pits and finally squaring off against the big man himself. In this level, it was as simple as dodging his fireballs, running past him and jumping on a switch to send him into the lava — a 3D, somewhat more complex version of the level-ending fights from the first Super Mario Bros.

What took me by surprise was the first time I found a pair of sightseeing binoculars, the sort of thing you’d find on top of a tall landmark in a big city. Standing in front of them, I found myself peering out in first-person at the rest of the level that I’d have to play, getting a little preview of what was ahead. Eventually I tracked down a Toad who was hanging out by a flagpole, and when I zoomed in on him he saw me and started acting out what I was supposed to do once I got there — take a running leap off the staircase and jump for the top of the pole.

In later levels, if I spotted Toad through the binoculars he’d throw out a Star Coin, one of the collectibles that are scattered in the levels in hard-to-reach places. I’m guessing finding and using these will become more difficult but more rewarding as the game gets harder.

3D or not 3D

Whether or not the Nintendo 3DS ultimately succeeds in the marketplace, Nintendo is surely also concerned that it succeeds as a concept. It wants its glasses-free 3D display to be viewed as more than a gimmick, as something that fundamentally changes how people play games. from my extensive demo of the game’s early levels, Super Mario 3D Land’s playful facade seems like a conscious attempt to answer that serious question—for 3DS owners, and possibly for Nintendo itself.

Rumor has it that the 8th title in the call of Duty series and the third of the Modern Warfare’s is to be released this November according to a report from the Los Angeles Times. Affectionately being referred to as Modern Warfare 3, the game is rumored to be released under a different – unknown title because of the legal issues with Infinity Ward.

Citing protected sources, the LA Times stated that Sledgehammer Games (also rumored to be working on yet another call of Duty title) and Raven Software have been called in assist Infinity Ward in order to complete Modern Warfare 3 in time for the holiday season. After the wipe out of Infinity Ward staff, where many of the developers left, Activision was forced to call in Sledgehammer Games from their work on their first title in the call of Duty Series said to be set in the future.

The word is that Sledgehammer is working with Infinity Ward on the single player campaign mode, while Raven completes the online/multiplayer portion of this game.

In March of last year IW executives Jason West and Vince Zampella were let go. since then more than 35 employees have left their employment at IW. Activision stated that they had more than 5000 applicants have inquired.

Keep in mind that none of the studios mentioned above have publicly announced which title would be released during 2011, but Activision did confirm that a new title in the series would be on the shelves near the end of 2011.

Some fans may be disappointed to find out that the rumor mill is also spinning about the story line for Modern Warfare 3. So far what we have heard is that this title will be a prequal to COD4 and players will follow the story from the perspective of Ghost. The disappointing part of all this is that players will re-visit levels from COD4 and Modern Warfare 2.

Microsoft plans to launch a holiday ad campaign, starting Sunday, that highlights its whole family of consumer products — Windows PCs, Windows Phone, Office, Xbox with Kinect — rather than ads for one product at a time.

The idea is to capture some of the sizzle around Xbox 360 — which has been the no. 1-selling game console in the U.S. for 15 of the past 16 months, according to Microsoft — and spread it around to other company products.

Call it the “halo effect,” says Microsoft’s Chief Marketing Strategist David Webster. The company wants to “borrow a little sex appeal and spread it throughout the portfolio.”

Most people know that Microsoft makes Windows and Office but don’t necessarily know that the company also produces Xbox consoles and Windows Phone software, or even that the latter two exist, Webster said.

What Xbox and Kinect (Microsoft’s motion-sensing device) have done, Webster said, is get people excited about the way they can control games or movies and TV shows with their voices or bodies.

“If they know we’re the same company that came up with those ideas, and now we have these PCs and phones — they’re more likely to think: ‘Wow, I should check out these PCs and phones,’ ” Webster said.

Plus, consumers today are increasingly interested in a unified ecosystem of products that work well together, in case they want to, say, hook up their gaming console to their set-top box, and make sure what they buy is compatible with their PCs and phones as well.

“They want to know what the whole family of products look like,” Webster said.

So the campaign plays with the notion of family. The tagline — “It’s a great time to be a family” — captures both the family of Microsoft consumer products, and emphasizes how the products help families spend more time together.

Microsoft’s research shows that its sweet spot for such products, Webster says, are families with young children. Its research also shows that such families have mixed emotions to new technologies coming into their homes. On the one hand, they’re excited about the shiny new toys. On the other hand, they tend to think technologies isolate them from each other – picture a family of four, each with his or her head down looking at a device.

So Microsoft’s video ads, which will run primarily on TV and online, features storylines about how its products brings people together, Webster said. for instance, one ad features a father dancing in the living room to Xbox’s “Dance Central.” his daughter videotapes him with a Windows Phone, then sends the video over to a brother who has a PC in the same room.

The ads are intended to show family moments; not complicated, technical features, Webster said.

The ads will be dialogue-free, designed to be shown in 35 countries — the widest geographic reach of any Microsoft TV ad campaign.

The company declined to disclose how much it’s spending for the campaign, but Webster characterized it as significant.

Medal of Honor vs CoD6 Modern Warfare 2; surely the most anticipated first-person shooter battle of 2010. if you’re a fan of the call of Duty series, Modern Warfare 2 will be familiar to you. But what about the new Medal of Honor coming later this year? can the revived Medal of Honor series topple Modern Warfare 2 from top spot, and become the most popular first-person-shooter ever?

If you’ve reviewed the latest trailer for the new Medal of Honor game, you may be thinking it looks nothing new compared to CoD6. at first glance it looks familiar. Medal of Honor puts you in war-torn Afghanistan just like Modern Warfare 2, and for that reason alone, you may be considering owning both But can MoH muscle in on the action and be crowned ‘Best First-Person-Shooter of 2010?

In this article we’ve put together a brief outline of both games and we’d like to invite you to vote for your favourite title.

If you’re like the tens of thousands of gaming fans out there, you can’t get enough of this type of first-person-shooter action. if you’ve followed either of the call of Duty series of Medal of Honor games, you’ll know the graphics have taken a massive leap forward which have added enormously to the realism, weapons, gameplay and perks. Couple this to the latest Xbox 360 or PC with a big monitor and surround sound, and you have one helluva realistic gaming experience

Currently MW2 is logging over 4 times the online gameplay as its nearest competitor in fact several other developers suspended their release dates when the call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 release date was announced back in October 2009, such was the anticipated demand. and they were right. CoD6 was officially the most popular game at Christmas selling at an unprecedented rate and is still currently the number 1 first-person-shooter.

Modern Warfare 2 has been able to build on Modern Warfare series with its second offering, and as such has a massive advantage over the pending Medal of Honor game. But will it have it all its own way when the new Medal of Honor is released later in 2010?

The new Medal of Honor puts players in surroundings familiar to CoD6, but make no mistake, this is an all-new first-person shooter and the first time the franchise has moved from the World War 2 arena to modern warfare, so the action should be fast-paced and intense, just like CoD6.

According to the developers, Medal of Honor will introduce the Tier 1 Operator: a relatively unknown entity directly under the National Command Authority who takes on missions no one else can handle. This level of realism has been influenced by working closely with REAL Tier 1 Operators from the US Special Operations Community, so it doesn’t get any more realistic than this

Inspired by real events, Medal of Honor reveals the mission of today’s most elite soldier – his will, his mindset and his uncompromising professionalism according to EA Games.

We know how good call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is; ask any Xbox 360 fan after a 3 hour session of flesh-ripping, action-packed carnage with the new medal of Honor looking to possess the same realism and graphics as the call of Duty Modern Warfare series, what will differentiate each game?

So familiar is Medal of Honor judging by the online trailer, it could easily be a new series of maps for CoD6. so, it must be the game-play and missions. new weapons perhaps? more vehicle action? Who knows. We have to wait and see and if you already own call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, the chance to extend your gameplay to another title of the same genre may be just too good to miss

Currently there are no new announcements from Activision that they will be releasing any updates at or around the release date of Medal of Honor later this year, but can we suspect anything to stem the potential migration to Medal of Honor?

Talkback

NoA won't put the Mario Galaxy OST CD up on Club Nintendo, but they'll print up a batch to give away for free with  new batches of Wiis for the 5 people who don't own one by now.  they won't bring over the Operation Rainfall games, but they'll bring over a Wii that has no reason to exist.Ugh, NoA just continues to find ways to irritate me.

But this new Wii raises profit margins by $7.38 per unit and is guaranteed to sell since it will be the only Wii unit on the shelf come Xmas.

Quote from: BlackNMild2k1But this new Wii raises profit margins by $7.38 per unit and is guaranteed to sell since it will be the only Wii unit on the shelf come Xmas.

I doubt that, considering the Wii hasn't been flying off shelves this year, so retailers probably have a nice stockpile of GCN-enabled Wiis they still have to get rid of.so NoA's been so ineffective at giving people a reason to buy Wii software that they're now bringing over this neutered Wii just so they can make pocket change on the fraction of people who don't own a Wii by now.  Great.

So pretty much if I want a Wii to have after WiiU I should go ahead and get one.  GCN BC should be the only reason to own a Wii really after WiiU.

Quote from: CericSo pretty much if I want a Wii to have after WiiU I should go ahead and get one.  GCN BC should be the only reason to own a Wii really after WiiU.

Why not just buy a GCN?

Quote from: UncleBob

Quote from: CericSo pretty much if I want a Wii to have after WiiU I should go ahead and get one.  GCN BC should be the only reason to own a Wii really after WiiU.

Why not just buy a GCN?

Wireless.  I have a Cube with a network adapter.

I would be more receptive to a black version of this console if NoA was gracious enough to give us Xenoblade, Last Story and Pandora's Tower.

There's nothing good about this revision from the perspective of consumers. I doubt anyone cares about the GCN compatibility one way or another at this point, because those who do already have a Wii and/or GCN. What does suck though is that it forces the console to be positioned horizontally and that is something that will matter to a lot of people.so Nintendo managed to shave off less than $8 in manufacturing costs? That's great for Nintendo, but it does nothing for consumers. If that ends up translated into a price drop and/or better bundle deals then it would be a good thing for consumers, but right now its nothing but a negative thing.

Quote from: ChozoSo Nintendo managed to shave off less than $8 in manufacturing costs?

Just be clear, that is just a number i pulled out of a hat. Don't take that as fact.they probably saved that much just by changing the drive type from one that has to accept small DVD. But I imagine the GC ports only costed them about a $1 or $2 per system anyway.

Quote from: BlackNMild2k1

Quote from: ChozoSo Nintendo managed to shave off less than $8 in manufacturing costs?

Just be clear, that is just a number i pulled out of a hat. Don't take that as fact.they probably saved that much just by changing the drive type from one that has to accept small DVD. But I imagine the GC ports only costed them about a $1 or $2 per system anyway.

Don't forget about the stand that's a good Postage Stamp at least.  Plus they can schedule up the Mold destruction because the storage is very expensive.

It's stuff like this that convinced me holding onto an old GameCube was a good idea, even though Wii is (was) backwards-compatible.  Although I don't love this news, it doesn't really deserve much reaction. Nintendo probably could/should have made the switch earlier since most people owning Wii consoles never use the GameCube functionality anyway. those who are interested in GameCube gaming should already have the means to play – after all, games and controllers and accessories have all been scarce for a while and we're very close to the next generation of Nintendo consoles.

Whoa! so much negativity. There's one line in that press release that makes all of it null and void.

Quote:The standard Wii bundle, which includes a Wii console (white or black), matching Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk controllers, Mario Kart™ Wii game and Wii Wheel™ accessory, will continue to be available at a suggested retail price of $149.99.

Unlike NoE, NoA's not getting rid of the good system. They're just selling another SKU in tandem to the current one. I don't see an issue with that.

Its the same price and some little boy or girl will get jaded because of it.Though my biggest issue is… We got this instead of marketing for a new game or just about anything else except and NoA set of Bonusses.It doesn't serve any real niche at all except to jade someone.Its not a new size.Its not a new color.Doesn't address something like the ROD.Doesn't address internal space issue.It just seems like a huge waste of time and effort on everyone's part for a system that should cost next to nothing compared to when they started to make it to now anyway.We all know the WiiU is probably going to be here next year.  If not a new model of cheap hardware should be the least of Nintendo's worries.  they don't need to sell more handles.  We need more blades.

I find it a little strange that it comes with NSMBW, but the (previously unreleased in NA) soundtrack to SMG.

Does anyone think the new Wii revision really can't be positioned vertically? Or is that just because they took the stand thing out? If its the later then as long as you keep your old stand you could still be able to do this thing vertically, and 3rd parties might step up and offer their own replacement stands. But on the other hand its also possible the new Wii simply will not work in that position, or if it does it might be harmful to it, so if that's the case then you probably shouldn't do it that way.I'm just wondering which of those two is the case.

I actually never used the Vertical stand that came with the Wii really.  I had a really cool one that glowed and had a fan in it to cool my Wii plus a place for 2 nunchuks and 2 Wiimotes.  I currently don't use that.  Mines just sitting vertical on its side.

Looking over this thread it really appears that NOA has been such a fuckshow this year they really can't do anything without attracting some criticism.  their big sin has been inactivity.  they just haven't done dick all, leaving finished games in limbo with nothing else being released in the meantime.  so now, NOA emerges, but what they have seemingly spent the last six months doing is not of any value to existing Wii owners.  in fact what they have done comes across like a scam since this variation of the Wii is an inferior product.the worst thing is that this revision is entirely for the benefit of Nintendo.  Localizing those games?  that benefits Nintendo customers.  But this?  this only benefits Nintendo themselves so it naturally is a priority for NOA.  Cutting manufacturing costs is more important than releasing actual games.  the priority is to attract the last few stragglers that have not bought a Wii yet.  the existing Wii owners are of no concern.  Get the new customer, neglect the existing one.the issue of Nintendo winning back core gamers with the Wii U is of less importance now.  over this last year I think Nintendo has poisoned their image with EVERYONE.  the question isn't "will the Wii U meet the needs of core gamers?" but rather "will Nintendo support the Wii U in the long run?"  the last thing you want is for people to associate you with not supporting your product for a decent period of time.  Sega built up this reputation with the 32X and Saturn and it sunk them.  Nintendo in 2011 is the company that abandoned the Wii before a successor came out and dropped the DS is favour of launching an overpriced handheld successor with practically no games.  2011 is the year of Nintendo not supporting their hardware with games.

Does anyone know if the CD is going to be the actual soundtrack or just one of their 6 track specials? If the later I do not think it is worth getting upset over.

Quote from: purevalDoes anyone know if the CD is going to be the actual soundtrack or just one of their 6 track specials? If the later I do not think it is worth getting upset over.

Judging from the box art, it looks to be the full 2 disc soundtrack.

Have a Super Birthday with Super Mario Party Favors
Planning a great birthday celebration takes a fair bit of work and planning. If you’re looking for a few tips and tricks for planning a Super Mario theme party – read on. In this article we’ll talk about some great party favors as well as the tradition of giving favors. with the information in this article you should be able to find great party favours that will have your guests, and your child, talking about the party for weeks afterwards.

Who are the Super Mario Brothers?
The Super Mario Brothers are the stars of the video game created by Nintendo. Super Mario Bros. is the second best selling video game of all time, Wii Sports being the first. Mario and his brother Luigi have to rescue Princess Toadstool (Princess Peach in later games) from Bowser who is the king of the Koopas. Children of all ages have delighted in this game since it first hit the market in 1985.

Super Mario Party Favors
Kids party favors are such a great way to thank guests for attending the party. Although birthday parties can have a lot of elements to organize, party favours don’t have to be difficult Prefilled party favor boxes are a great way to keep to your Super Mario Brothers theme and not break the bank. They come in a great color printed box with a great selection of toys and treats, all for less than $5.

If you want to make custom favors for kids, pick up empty Mario Brothers party boxes and fill them with your own unique selection of items. If you have a digital camera and a printer, one great favor to include is a picture of everyone gathered in a group at the party. Everyone loves pictures and it will serve as the perfect memento of the occasion.

Mario Brothers toys and candies are available to purchase individually. a few examples of party favours you might consider are the sour candy mushroom tin, Mario Bros. temporary tattoos and a Super Mario Bros. sports bottle.

The Tradition of Party Favors
There is no definitive origin of party favors. Early 16th and 17th century records document gifts being given after weddings to thank guests for attending and to provide a way of remembering the occasion. over the years it has become customary to thank guests at any celebration with a small token.

Birthday favors are particularly important at a child’s birthday because they allow your child an opportunity to thank all of his guests. Also, all the kids who attended the party will love going home with a special toy or two of their own.

Conclusion
What better way to celebrate a special birthday than with a Super Mario party theme? with easy to order themed party favors and party supplies, organizing the party will be a breeze. Kids will love going home with a toy of their own and your child will love celebrating with his favorite characters.