Gamertell

There is an article published on Weight Watchers’ website that discusses the physical benefits of playing sports and fitnesss related games on the Nintendo Wii. The article cites research done at the Liverpool John Moores University in England that reported a 156% increase in energy expenditure in players of the Wii over their resting values (i.e. values when sitting and playing other gaming system).

The author, Steve Genge, ran his own unofficial study where he first played the Wii for forty-five minutes a day, five days a week. He focused on full games in the sports genre, training games and then topped it off with a fitness challenge.

Genge reports that he was pleasantly surprised by the amount of weight he lost in following this routine and sticking to the Weight Watchers Core Plan. So much in fact that he posed the challenge to his fellow office mates, which lead to a mini “Wii-lypics” in the office conference room. (What a job!)

Mr. Genge’s admittedly unscientific evaluation supported the conclusion of the academic study.

Read [Weight Watchers] Site [Nintendo Wii]

• Shiren the Wanderer Wii out February 2010, won’t have online features
• Nintendo downloads for November 2, 2009
• Phoenix Wright moving his law practice to the Wii

  The days of cowboys and Indians have ended and now the fantastic science fiction battles between Spartans and Covenant can be played out in the comfort of your own home (or your local laser tag play center).

Jasman Toys unveiled at Comic Con 2007 a line of Halo toys based on the Covenant plasma rifle, pistol and energy sword. The best part is that they are laser tag equipped.

Keep in mind that these aren’t the standard miniatures of the in-game weapons that we all have seen. These are life-sized! Yeah, that’s right.

It makes me wish I was a kid again so that I could buy and play with these sweet toys without looking like the thirty-year-old dufus that I probably really am. Oh well, too late to change my ways now. You guys are toast!

Read [Jasman Toys] Via [Joystiq]

• Shiren the Wanderer Wii out February 2010, won’t have online features
• Nintendo downloads for November 2, 2009
• Phoenix Wright moving his law practice to the Wii

The folks at GamePro published an interview with Nintendo of America president and CEO Reggie Fils-Aime. In the interview Fils-Aime discussed everything from Wii supply challenges to Blue Ocean Strategy.

The CEO was optimistic about Wii Online’s competitiveness in today’s market. Fils-Aime pushes the envelope in defining its target audience and explains that games such as Mario Cart and Smash Bros fall into the list of games that appeal to the hardcore gamer, right alongside and in the same category as Metroid Prime 3.

In addition, when asked what he sees in the future for video games Fils-Aime responded:

“The future looks like this: More and more consumers playing video games world wide. A vastly different profile that the typical - call him 20-year-old - male today. And in that view our devices the Wii and the DS are truly devices that people will use every day, all consumers in the household. That’s our view of the future.”

Read [GamePro Interview] Site [Nintendo]

• Shiren the Wanderer Wii out February 2010, won’t have online features
• Nintendo downloads for November 2, 2009
• Phoenix Wright moving his law practice to the Wii

Xbox.com is giving away tons of cool Halo 3 gear over the next few months. Between now and August 28, 2007, you can register for the first round of the Halo 3 for 3 sweepstakes where the top prize includes a copy of the Halo 3 Legendary Edition game, a Xbox LIVE 12-Month Gold Subscription and 1600 Microsoft Points.

There will be 16 winners for the first round with prizes ranging from the grand prize (above) to a copy of the regular edition Halo 3 game for 10 third-place winners.

That’s not all. There are three rounds to this sweepstakes and each consecutive rounds offers bigger prizes. For example, there will be 33 winners in the third round and the Grand Prize winner of that round will receive a copy of Halo 3 Legendary Edition game, Halo 3 Special Edition Xbox 360 console, Halo 3 Limited Edition Wireless Controller (Spartan), Halo 3 Limited Edition Wireless Headset, Halo 3 Wireless Headset, Zune – Halo 3 Edition, Xbox 360 Halo 3 X-shaped Ibanez Xiphos Guitar with Case, Xbox LIVE 12-Month Gold Subscription, 1600 Microsoft Points, Halo 3 Messenger Bag and a Halo Graphic Novel Autographed by Bungie.

Now that’s some serious Halo loot! Participants must register for each round separately but registration for the first round is currently underway.

Enter [Halo 3 for 3 Sweepstakes] Read [Xbox360FanBoy]

• Shiren the Wanderer Wii out February 2010, won’t have online features
• Nintendo downloads for November 2, 2009
• Phoenix Wright moving his law practice to the Wii

Ubisoft, the publisher of great games like Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, Resident Evil and a ton of other games, is set to release another movie game based on the classic English poem Beowulf. The game is designed to expand on the movie from Paramount Pictures that is based on the same work. The film is set to be released on November 16, 2007, and Ubisoft expects to release the game around that same time.

The movie is touted as being a revolutionary 3D experience. GameDaily.com reports that the movie “features the groundbreaking Real D technology that enables real actors to be transformed into 3D characters, stars Angelina Jolie as Grendel’s mother, Crispin Glover as Grendel, Anthony Hopkins as King Hrothgar and Ray Winstone as Beowulf.” The film will be released in 1500 3D theaters in addition to traditional 2D venues.

The Beowulf game will be available on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows PC and PSP and will be a fantasy action adventure game. Much of the details of the gameplay have not yet been released but it is clear that the game will include a type of points system that will be used to upgrade releasable thanes who will be used throughout the game in Beowulf‘s struggle against the Titans.

Some may look at this partnership as a fantastic synergy of two giants of commercial entertainment to produce an overall unimaginable and enthralling experience. I just see this giving high school students another way out of reading the very difficult book. Both are noble causes.

Read [GameDaily] Site [Paramount Pictures] Site [Ubisoft]

• Shiren the Wanderer Wii out February 2010, won’t have online features
• Nintendo downloads for November 2, 2009
• Phoenix Wright moving his law practice to the Wii

The Hollywood Reporter published an article today (July 26, 2007) stating that Ubisoft has finalized a deal to make a video game based on the popular NBC TV series, Heroes. Also announced this week at Comic Con, Ubisoft is scheduled to discuss its progress on another game based on the ABC TV series, Lost. That will make two TV show games from Ubisoft that are slated to be released in 2008.

Ubisoft has grabbed a solid portion of the gaming market with popular franchises like Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, and Splinter Cell, and has also recently released several movie games such as Surf’s Up and TMNT.

Unfortunately, Ubisoft is not immune to the games based on movies virus and both Surf’s Up and TMNT only received passable reviews. Here’s to hoping these two TV show-based games will do what so many games based on movies can’t… be fun to play.

Read [Hollywood Reporter] Also Read [CVG] Site[Ubisoft]

• Shiren the Wanderer Wii out February 2010, won’t have online features
• Nintendo downloads for November 2, 2009
• Phoenix Wright moving his law practice to the Wii

Nielson Media, the company responsible for the rating system that is the standard for judging TV viewership, released a report today (July 26, 2007) analyzing the gaming industry. The Nielson GamePlay Metrics studied aspects of the people’s gaming habits including games played, console or PC used, amount of time per day and time per session, to list only a few factors.

The report also looked at the family and individual player’s demographics, with results that suggests that, though it is the least expensive next-gen console on the market, Nintendo’s Wii is more commonly played in households with an annual income of greater than $100,000.

Another finding that may surprise the gaming layperson is that Sony’s Playstation 2 is reported to be the most played console in June 2007. Among the 33,000 respondants,...

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Techland just issued new screenshots of its up and coming FPS, Warhound, which is slated as the next FPS to rule the gaming world.  This release was on the heals of the news that the game’s initial release has been postponed.

Being a huge FPS fan myself I like to keep on the lookout for games that offer some new and improved widget that will propel the genre to the next level. The next project from Techland, titled Warhound, is one of the games I am eagerly watching in the hope that it will do what so many in the past have tried and failed…

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Apparently, I’m not the only one feeling the stagnation of massively multiplayer online (MMO) games. IGN UK reported that Richard Garriot, who was largely responsible for starting the genre with his work on Ultima Online, is also seeing the lack of creativity and he hopes that his new project, Tabula Rasa, will alter the paradigm.

It seems when I first considered the concept of a massive multiplayer online game I got pretty excited. I’m a fan of fantasy and science fiction and when I thought about this new genre of games I imagined…

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Now all you virtual car stealing thugs out there get ready, because the folks over at CVG posted today that they have been cleared to release their impression of the second in game demo of GTA IV. No, unfortunately this isn’t a demo that will be released to the public over Xbox Live or anything, (not yet at least).

If you’ve just got to know the latest and greatest about GTA IV the moment it is released then set your egg timers to 6 p.m. (GMT). Let’s hope there will be something worth the extra mouse clicks.

I expect CVG isn’t the only one who has gotten the okay for the information release today so keep an eye here for updated impressions - or at least links to impression - on this highly anticipated sequel.

Read [CVG] Site [Rockstar Games]

• Shiren the Wanderer Wii out February 2010, won’t have online features
• Nintendo downloads for November 2, 2009
• Phoenix Wright moving his law practice to the Wii