Nintendo of America's senior director of project development Tom Prata recently gave out information about the WiiWare service. He let slip that  there are around 100 games in development in various stages of completion as well as a few other interesting facts about the service. To find out more, head on over to the full article

Admit it - throwing stuff is fun. Steven Spielberg thinks so too apparently, as he and the rest of the Boom Blox dev team ready the game for release this May 6. More than just another Wii puzzle title, however, Boom Blox's cartoony exterior does little to reflect the depth of its beautifully rendered physics. Check out everything you'll need to know regarding this title via the full article up ahead!

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World producer Teruaki Konishi and Tales brand manager Hideo Baba recently sat down with Cubed³ to talk about all of the cool new stuff that the new spin-off/sequel has to offer. Hit the 'read more' link below to check out the full article.

For those of us curious about the details behind Sora Ltd.'s Super Smash Bros. Brawl, there's definitely no better way to get enlightened than to talk to the game's director himself, Masahiro Sakurai. Click on the Read More button below to find out just what the mind behind the series has to say about Super Smash Bros. Brawl, as well as the reasons behind some of its changes.

Following Satoru Iwata's previous announcement on a new online gift-giving function on the Wii comes another Wii Channel. In a conference in Japan the other day, Nintendo announced a new Wii Channel for their latest home entertainment console. Temporarily nicknamed "The TV Program Schedule Channel" (or at least, as our Google translation says), it will allow users to search for TV shows and check its airtime on the local TV networks.

The new feature is scheduled to be released Spring of next year and provided by G-Guide, but aside from this, no other details have been given. Others are hoping that this will eventually lead to some IPTV video recording functionality, but the question is whether the Wii system itself could support the feature.

You can probably think of it as a channel surfing... err, channel. We're guessing it'd work something like the News and Forecast Channel, feeding off of information via WiiConnect24 - but, of course, we could be wrong. Nevertheless the basic function is there: if you're curious when the next episode of Pushing Daisies is coming out, check the schedule on your Nintendo Wii.

If you remember an interview with Nintendo of America (NoA) president Reggie Fils-Aime that we reported on last July, he gave a cryptic hint about a surprise involving the WiiConnect24 online service of the Nintendo Wii. His words being "But the surprise is coming...the surprise is coming...by the end of September."

It's already well past September - heck, it's almost past October, and we still haven't gotten what this surprise is (if an online Pokemon Farm and a downloadable Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles title wasn't the actual surprise, that is). What gives, Reggie?

Of course, the two aforementioned tidbits - namely the Pokemon Farm and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Young King and the Promised Land - are each surprises of their own right, and we're certainly happy with them. But it seems that they're not the surprises, as NoA Public Relations Manager Eric Walton answered this question in an ambush interview at this year's E for All.

So what was his answer, then? "I can't say, unfortunately." And this with a smile on his face, as reported by the good people over at the Advanced Media Network.

While it's not a confirmation or an outright denial, it does lend itself to the iffy conclusion that whatever surprise Reggie has promised us in September has not yet arrived, and it's still on its way. However, as with all cryptic hints, we'll have to file this one in the rumor section while we're all busy crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. You should, too, as whatever surprise that could make the PR manager of Nintendo of America grin could be big.

The announcement of upcoming video game Kiki Kai World from developer Starfish SD and publisher UFO Interactive definitely generated a lot of of excitement among fans of the classic Pocky and Rocky. Kiki Kai World, for the uninitiated, is being considered as the "spiritual successor" of the SNES scrolling shooter.

Starfish Producer and Senior Project Controller Chong Ahn, in an interview, divulged that the Playstation 2 version of the game will no longer be released. The official wouldn't explain why the project was canceled but reiterated that the Wii version will push through early next year.

Aside from minor changes in the story and the addition of new attributes, Chong Ahn said that Kiki Kai World is very similar in essence to its predecessor. She mentioned:

Anyone who is a fan of the original Kiki Kai Kai/Pocky and Rocky series will be immediately familiar with the play style and feel of this title. We have the same development team that worked on the original version working hard at this title and they know the feel/style better than anyone else.

The producer continued and said that the game will be utilizing Nintendo Wii's motion-sensing capabilities. When asked whether the game will have co-op multiplayer mode and if it will use other online features such as WiiConnect24, Chong Ahn said that the developers "do not want to venture there unless they have something really fun and unique" to offer.

 

Things may not be all that dandy in Flipside as we once thought, as it seems that quite a few users are having issues with the PAL version of Mario's papery adventure for the Nintendo Wii. Thankfully, those of us crafty enough to experiment with Super Paper Mario's language settings of the game have found a quick remedy to the glitch.

So what's the glitch, and where does it happen? Apparently, it manifests itself as a game freeze after you confront Mimi in Chapter 2-2, namely inside Merlee's Mansion. After she tells you to search the rooms for Merlee, and when you tell her that Merlee herself is nowhere to be found, the game stops dead in its tracks. What's worse is that it's not just an isolated bug, but a rather prevalent one, as many players have already reported of this happening.

What's the workaround, then? Simple - change the system's language setting to German just before getting to Mimi. You'd be able to coast through the glitch without any problems, at which point you can save, power off, and set it back to its original language setting. Easy, isn't it? You can probably use this for any other similar glitch points in the game.

While there is a way to go around the glitch, let's hope that Nintendo notices this and does something to resolve the issues - mayhap a patch, or even a new version of the game itself? Time will only tell, but we're banking on a patch itself. It'd be much easier for them to do so, what with the Wii's WiiConnect24 feature.

Gaming website Cubed3 recently caught up with Blue Byte Software Development Director and Studio Manager Ralf Wirsing and had a brief talk about video game The Settlers for the DS and possible incarnations on Nintendo's shiny white console.

The director was quite elusive but some hints were dropped just the same. According to Wirsing, he tried playing the Wii for some time and realized that it's indeed fun and the motion-sensing feature does offer a lot of possibilities.

When asked if the strategy genre is going to work well on Wii, he commented that it's still too early to give definite response now but their studio together with Ubisoft will look deeper into the matter.

Prior to the DS version, The Settlers was mostly popular for its PC version with different themes being released every now and then. When asked if Wii owners can have a taste of earlier Settlers game via the Virtual Console, Ralf Wirsing said, "we haven't studied this opportunity so far, but it might be interesting".

How about you guys would you like to have The Settlers on Wii? The possibilities are definitely endless. Just imagine the game utilizing the console's WiiConnect24 and WiFi connection for multiplayer. As much as we want to see this one coming true, it seems that we all have to wait for now until Blue Byte comes with a decision.

October is still more than two months away from now, and we're pretty sure you all can't wait to get your hands on the androgynous sky-soaring NiGHTS and the latest iteration of the franchise known as NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams.

While waiting, why don't you let NiGHTS take you away first to the enchanted world of Nightopia with this new batch of screenshots? Looking at these new images, one will surely be mesmerized by its beauty and charm. However, you should note that the world is not at all safe as it's being threatened by nightmare beings known as Nightmaren.

This particular game probably holds a special place in the hearts of gamers as it was one of the most successful games ever released on Sega Saturn. NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams is a follow up to the first title which sports new characters and online features including one that takes advantage of the Wii's Forecast Channel and WiiConnect24.

NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams will be released in North America this coming October. It will be available in Europe in Winter 2007.