system_error

Unreal Engine 2.5 is more than enough for the Wii when it comes to graphics but the engine is not simply a tool to create 3D environments and stuff but it comes also with a great range of tools, scripts and help for a developer to maintain a efficient workflow. I personally would like to see a custom UE for the Wii with code extra written to take advantage of the Wii hardware + the upgraded scripts/toolset of the UE 3. The problem is EPIC would have to do a lot of work and the monetary benefits wouldn't be very rewarding for the first years - after all which games right now would need a Unreal Engine on the Wii?

WOW at least we get it at all. It seems Nintendo still doesn't care about EU gamers. Well could be worse .... oh damn, I forgot we pay a lot more than US/JAP too. So I guess I that is a efficient way to battle piracy and region free hacks. Great game but lousy developer support and as usual Nintendo does not care - because we simply have no choice.

Problem is that people shouldn't really complain - after all it is free stuff you get. But what I am really pissed about is that there are a lot of EU countries which don't fit into that deal. So better thing would be free Wii Points with the purchase of special Nintendo games or you could buy Sonic Wii and get the Mega Drive version for free.

Rumour has it that the exchange ratio of VIP Stars into Wii points will be 4 to 1 - that means 4000 VIP Stars for a N64 game. Bought VC games will generate VIP Stars too. Sources: ConsoleWars.de

It could be anything - but my guess will be a game much more aimed at the mass market. Like Nintendogs, Brain Train, ... Nintendo did not manage to put a single AAA game only developed for the Wii out since it launched - and so far even in march there won't be any special games. So why anounce a great game if the old ones are not even done yet. Mario 128 was announced several times, Zelda too, ... I could live without an anouncement if Nintendo would FINALLY put out their already done games on the market.

Every update so far said "Hey, now you can enable parental blablabla" - I guess Nintendo developers are too lazy to remove the message.

I doubt it - production cost would be the same. But instead of US/JAP GC Bios a production line would put the PAL bios chip on the Wii - I guess that would be made by machines, so cost is not an issue when it comes to hardware region freeness (I doubt that word exists). Big issuse are EU retailers.

Nintendo doesn't like the Freeloader working with a PAL Wii because EU customers are the only ones which have a serious advantage in importing games. Price, availability (US/JAP release dates vs. EU release dates), game quality (480p, voice overs, etc.), ... US and JAP use the same country code as far as I know and the majority of gamers speaks English not Japanese - that is the best region lock ever ;-) So Nintendo did what they had to prevent bad sales in EU - ban region free gaming. If there would be no region lock I am sure that a big percentage of EU gamers would never buy a EU game again. The US price is better, the translation and voice overs are superior and I get a game 3 months early in most cases (Excite Truck, Elebits,...) ... so now please someone convince me to buy a PAL game again. Only exception is the language for people which can't read English good enough - but I guess that is only true for non-gamers (young kids, parents, ...) and those don't care that much. Also Wii Sports with "Bowling, Play, Strike, ...." isn't very text dependent.

I doubt it will be that easy. Currently the old Freeloader versions don't work on PAL Wii consoles because those use parts of the latest Gamecube modell - where the Freeloader did not work either. So right now their only protection seems to be different hardware in the PAL Wii, that is the reason why the Freeloader works on US/JAP Wii consoles. To be honest - I hope I don't go to far now but Nintendo seems to be a lot less interested in protecting their property compared to the Gamecube security. A lot of the old security leaks from the Gamecube are still present and with added functionality (Channels, Browser, VC, ...) the Wii provides a big target for tech freaks around the globe. I believe this time the Wii will be the most "backup friendly" console around ....

Anyone else experienced a system crash when exiting Call of Duty 3? I normally just exit a game with the Home button either at the main screen or just during the game. So far it happend twice while exiting COD3 that the Wii was still on (green light) and the screen went black one time and green one time. Controller doesn't work, power button/reset neither. I have to unplug the power cord.

I just talked to a guy in the store where I preordered (MediaMarkt Saturn AG) and he told me that the store will get around 41 Wiis for launch. The city where I live has 250k inhabitants and 3 big electronics stores - so that makes about 150 Wii for 250k people. Luckily I am on place 29 of more than 150 in my store - so if Nintendo doesn't screw up I get a Wii. The guy even told me if they arrive on thursday I can get a Wii early aswell. Rumour has it that whole Austria gets about 3000 Wiis for 8 million people. A friend told me that Denmark will get 5000 for 5 million people.

Well isn't 802.11b 11MBit/s - that should be in theory be around 5-6MBit/s on average. So up to 768kb/s - should be more than enough

Well if I get a Wii I will probably need a update or a patch (US got their first one yesterday I think to enable a few more channels), I want to browse the channels and download VC games on the same day I really do hope my DS dongle will work aswell.

I am not really happy with the design because it could have been so much better. It looks more like some patchwork job. So far I don't see any serious upgrades compared to the GC hardware except clockspeed and the absolute minimum of RAM. The new gameplay the Wii offers might be worth 250€ but the hardware is surely overpriced. I really wonder what we would have got with the Miyamoto 100$ console ...

Maybe far fetched but it seems the 729MHz of the Wii are somehow confirmed. Not that it matters but at least people know what they paid for hardware. The WII CPU and GC CPU serials have both their clockspeeds in it. For the Wii it is xxx-729-xxx and the GC has xxx-486-xxx.

WTF? Are you trying to downplay the enormous success of XBOX LIVE? Around 6 million people will be using LIVE by june 2007. That are about 6 million more than on the Gamecube. Oh wait ... Gamecube online does not really exist. But Wii online will take care of that because it is free ... oh I forgot there are no online games at launch - but hey at least it is free. I rather play a shooter all alone instead against humans... Yeah online doesn't mean much ... that should be an article on Wikipedia under "How to defend Nintendos decision in every case"

I think EU gets around 400k aswell - after all a lot more people live in the EU countries and since the price is a bit higher Nintendo makes more money with a console sold in the EU than in Japan.

The controller statement was to be meant as a general comment - I agree it may not be obvious due to my layout.

Because it might actually be a simple, shallow and short game with average graphics and average gameplay? Some people seem to believe that a Nintendo first party game can't be average...

My question is what did developers do to their games to get such average ratings. Right now it looks like most people are not really satisfied with the Wiimote. Now what did the developers do? Spend less time on graphics and also less time on controlls? Whats the excuse now? Excite Truck as a first party game good a mediocre score from both Gamespot and Game Informer. I expected okay looking games with superior controlls not something in between.

Alright lets assume that this case was pretty obvious - what is the next step? When to we need a trial and when is it "logical" that someone is guilty? Even if 1000 people, the judge and a TV channel see you commiting a crime you have to get a proper trial. This reminds me of the movie Judge Dredd - not a very sophisticated movie but it shows a dark vision of the future if we abandon current laws. Even after WW2 the german leaders who were absolutly guilty in my eyes had a fair trial - and they killed a lot more people and nearly destroyed entire Europe.

I just don't understand how somebody at the age of 21 can be so immature and childish. There are good reasons why society and governments established courts and laws because otherwise our so called civilization can go back to the survival of the fittest. Yes there are a lot of cruel crimes which should be punished HARDER in our world but not without a trial because without one you just become like the person you want to judge. Just to make myself clear and I normally don't want to use such phrases but it seems Ford Prefect either lied about his age or his parents thought that proper education might be wasted on him...

It seems not everyone learned from the mistakes in the past. Humanity, tolerance are not as accepted as they should be nowadays. Wether it is stuborn idiots which let their emotions carry them away, fanatic religious believers or similar people.

The US Army might have highly advanced drones, planes and whatever but the basic soldier fighting in Iraq is a untrained, 18 year old boy with a old plastic rifle. Those guys signed up because they believe in their leader and country - they fight for their believs and attitudes but one question mark is still there. Was this war justified or has the general public been fooled? Being naive as I am I believe that the average US citizen did not know that the "War on Terror" may just have been a war for resources. Normally a country in our time just has to defend themselves but don't wage war like the USA did. Hitler, Milosevic, ... attacked other countries for no reason ... now just think about what Bush did and where did the WMD suddenly go? I blame Europe for it after all we send all the strange guys, criminals and whatever to America in 1492...

I agree with you but in the end winners decide who deserves death ...