I approached the Deca Sports preview disc Infendo received last week with an open mind and low expectations, if that makes any sense. The comparisons to Wii Sports, fair or unfair, are unavoidable: both titles are a collection of sports mini-games and both feature colorful cartoon players that are more at home on a Saturday morning than on the real-world pitch of other more “serious” sports titles like PES 2008, for example.

But Deca is also its own beast, and goes off into new territory not covered by the five pack of sports covered by Nintendo’s flagship pack-in disruptor. Bump and set in 2v2 beach volleyball; swing away at a shuttlecock in Badminton; or even pedal about a Supercross course wagging the remote to do simple tricks. Hudson packed a lot in there; everything from motion sensing arms swings to nunchuck controls, but it still felt incomplete, even for a demo. They included a lot of stuff in Deca Sports–everything, it seems, but the fun.

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X-Play gets some hands-on time with Mario Kart Wii. It’s a bit awkward to watch them play the game in real time, but that’s what half the fun of any Wii game is all about, right?

[Ed. Note — Embed wasn’t working, so the link is above instead].

If you take out all of the obvious highly anticipated Wii titles coming out in 2008, you’d probably be left with some kind of “sleeper hit list” of titles that could very well be the silent but deadly killers in the console’s arsenal.

Conveniently, Planet Wii assembled a list of 10 Potential Sleeper Hits for Wii that are worth a look. Some titles, like Mushroom Men, Boom Blox and De Blob, have been talked about and previewed here on Infendo. But there are others. Oh yes, there are others! Find them below. (more…)

Blake was snooping around the Infendo offices the other day asking the writers about original IP due out for the Wii this year, and I was honestly less than helpful. I think I grunted something about how Disaster: Day of Crisis might be out this year and then went back to playing Super Mario Bros. 2, which I had dusted off in a fit of nostalgia over the weekend.

Unfortunately, I forgot about De Blob. Shame on me, because it’s looking more and more like one of the true gems of 2008 for the system and a defining moment for developer Blue Tongue (THQ publishing). (more…)

The first step on the path to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

So those of you with self-destructive penchants for flamboyant assassinations and slicing your foes in half with crude glowing lightsabers should probably stop reading.

Really, it would be for the best. (more…)

The British magazine NGamer posted an updated set of Mario Kart impressions on Thursday, complementing their extensive August preview. Collectively, NGamer has provided some of the most comprehensive Mario Kart Wii coverage available and has revealed some interesting tidbits that seem to have slipped under the radar.

One of the more interesting revelations from their recent preview, Mario Kart Wii will offer a variety of courses taken from past Mario Kart games, dating back to the SNES original, Super Mario Kart. While this may have been an expected move, NGamer suggests it is the presentation of the older courses in Mario Kart Wii that is noteworthy.

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According to a 2004 census, there are approximately 127 million people living in Japan. We can logically assume roughly half of them own a Wii.

In addition to hogging the global Wii supply, they also get Super Mario Galaxy eleven excruciating days before it reaches North American shores, more than two weeks before Europe and - ah, poor Australia - almost a full month before our friends down under.

Obviously, the Japanese are a very privileged people. Forget that they also have one of the strongest economies in the world, beautiful uninhabited forests and an effective system of universal healthcare.

Galaxy is reason enough to relocate to Tokyo.

The ridiculously-anticipated game was released in Japan today, and Brian Ashcraft of Kotaku has posted some brief hands-on impressions of the final Japanese retail copy of Super Mario Galaxy. But surprisingly, all is not perfect in Mario’s latest outing; at least, not in outset of the adventure.

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Edge has a preview of the upcoming (and controversial) WiiFit.

Wii Fitness is a simple concept executed very well, and the fact that it angered some of the gaming world at its announcement is more an indictment of the industry than an understanding of how it can change the way non-gamers see consoles.

It should be interesting to see how “gamey” the title ends ups being… (i.e. the ski jump game, which I love).