“I have an idea for an Infendo post you should do…” — Sean Malstrom

And so began this simple post on an extraordinary idea. Perhaps a bit crazy too, but then again all disruptive technologies are labeled as such before they’re accepted en masse.

The idea? That the Balance Board packaged with Wii Fit isn’t an accessory at all. It’s a console, just the like Wii or even the PlayStation 3.

You were wondering when Nintendo would update the Wii? Unveil a Wii 2? Good news: The Wii Balance Board is it.

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F-Zero move over, the Conduit dev team has a shmup racer coming for WiiWare that looks pretty awesome!

[Thanks, Jake]

Lost Winds isn’t a WiiWare launch title, but it should be. This gameplay footage was the first I had seen for the title, which received across the board praise from every journo who attended Nintendo’s recent media summit event. Call me late to the party for that all you want, this one still looks like a keeper (better than some existing Wii games, IMO).

Incase you forgot (I did) the annual, Nintendo Media Summit ran all day yesterday and today showing off select first, and third party titles to release for Q2-Q3. No megatons this year besides an “official” press release for, Mario Super Sluggers, and in-depth details on Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness. Nintendo’s main purpose this year is getting the press to play some upcoming “bridge” software, and to push Wiiware toward more big name developers. Many details concerning gameplay impressions are still under embargoed until next week, so look forward to some new media then.

List of titles on show floor…

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SAN RAFAEL, CA, April 10, 2008 – Interactive entertainment pioneer Telltale, Inc. is pleased to announce Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People (SBCG4AP), a new series of episodic games for WiiWare™, in partnership with Videlectrix. Starring Strong Bad, the self-proclaimed coolest person ever, the series is based on Matt and Mike Chapman’s online animated series, which has been running at Homestarrunner.com since 2000. SBCG4AP will launch on WiiWare this June.

“Telltale has been rejecting my ideas for green text adventures for years,” laments thousandaire gadabout Strong Bad, “but we finally reached a compromise with this puffy 3D point-and-click-em-up adventure. They claim all the coding was done with green text, so I guess that’s pretty cool.”

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WiiWare launched today in Japan along with a handful of games and the reactions have been — if we’re going to reduce each to a word or phrase — muted, surprising and  “frackin’ expensive!” (more…)

Wii Fit is big in Japan (1.5 million sold in three months) and arguably will be as big if not bigger in the US when it goes live in a month or so (more people, more people who subscribe to new “weight loss” gimmicks, Wii’s existing momentum among people outside the now incorrectly described “core” or “traditional gamer”). But, just in case, Nintendo is allegedly preparing a massive marketing push to ensure the peripheral is seen and experienced by as many people as possible. I’m talking Oprah here people, Oprah. (more…)

WiiWare isn’t even out of the oven officially yet and its already got a proper Bomberman game scheduled for release. And this is not mini-game Bomberman, no, but honest to goodness 8-player simultaneous bomb on bomb action.

[Japanese link via Kotaku]

Hudson on Tuesday confirmed a summer release of Tetris in Japan for Wii Ware with a North American release likely to follow. Purchase details and a complete list of features were sorely missing from the announcement, but we do know the game will support 6-person online multiplayer, not to mention handsome Miis. Additionally, the venerable puzzle game will support a coopertive mode if the acompanying screenshots are to be believed. Sweet.

New research from Interpret posted over at Next Generation today talks of a casual games love explosion that’s happened in recent months. It’s a lengthy read, but it bodes well for established services like Xbox Live Arcade and upcoming ones like the WiiWare service from Nintendo.

A snippet: “Interpret found that, during 2007, casual games reached over 145 million people aged 12-65. Of that figure over 71 million play casual games for one or more hours per week.”

Canadian Flash games developer XGen Studios launched an official Web site today for the upcoming WiiWare version of its classic Flash game, Defend Your Castle.

Given XGen’s latest juicy details, worries that the game will be a generic port of the Flash version should be alleviated. As confirmed in the April issue of NGamer Magazine, Defend Your Castle has received a dramatic makeover, in both visuals and gameplay, for the move to Wii.

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A quick snippet from a snippet at Game|Life today:

his address at GDC this morning, Nintendo project leader Takashi Aoyama said that Nintendo will, in the near future, allow Wii owners to use Wii Points (purchased with a credit card transaction online or on cards in stores) to buy add-on content for games. He said that add-on contents would also be available for disc-based games as well as WiiWare downloadable titles.

The add-on contents for disc games would be purchased within the game, Aoyama said.

’bout bloody frickin’ time, no? Also, conveniently this news could put the Wii DLC timeline around the launch of WiiWare and Mario Kart Wii, the latter of which better have downloadable tracks, upgrades and new racer/kart downloads as a result of this. Seriously, what a fitting way for a company like Nintendo to introduce such a thing — on their own system with their own game on their own terms. Nada’s changed, folks!

IGN has an interview up today that goes over basically everything there is to know about WiiWare.

All in all it’s pretty positive, interesting stuff, although Nintendo’s decision to forgo a demo service in lieu of promoting games via the Everybody’s Nintendo Channel could be hit-or-miss, in my opinion. (more…)

Cambridge, UK. 20th February 2008. David Braben’s Frontier Developments (”FrontierTM”), one of the games industry’s leading independent developers, today announced its first title for WiiWareTM - LostWindsTM; a high quality, enchanting adventure bursting with new gameplay ideas that embrace the innovative controller of the Wii™ .

Built with Frontier’s in-house 3D game-engine technology LostWinds puts “the power of the wind in the palm of your hand” as you wield the awesome powers of Enril the wind spirit - from raging tornados to the gentlest breeze – to guide and protect Toku, a young boy who is the only one who can help you release the curse placed upon the world of Mistralis by evil Balasar. Mistralis is a stunningly presented, magical land full of wonder and intrigue that bursts to life with your every action and exploration. The game’s novel, playful control mechanism lets you use Enril’s elemental powers to help Toku in your quest to overcome Balasar – powering his jumps and glides through Mistralis’ different regions, buffeting and smashing enemies, and solving puzzles. (more…)

Nintendo’s upcoming WiiWare changes the way both developers create and consumers access video games. Through WiiWare, Nintendo hopes to offer developers a virtual laboratory that serves as a breeding ground for new games, which encourages great ideas that creators always wanted to develop. The combination of low development barriers and unique game experiences found only on Wii should enable developers to try new ideas with lower risk in a quicker, more creative and affordable way.

Meanwhile Wii owners can download a multitude of cool new games from different genres, including some that are unprecedented, which can be purchased from home at a dynamic price range. WiiWare also empowers consumers to determine with their Wii Points which games have the right stuff to become the next big thing.

WiiWare will be a repository for all types of experiences – literally, something for everyone. Early WiiWare games will come from celebrated developers like Square Enix, which is creating FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: My Life as a King, a simulation game for all ages. Also watch for games from up-and-coming developers like Frontier with its fresh, enchanting platform adventure LostWinds and a new episodic game series from Telltale. The first U.S. WiiWare games will be available on May 12.