I really like the humor within Screw Attack and they even make a few good points why you won’t want to sell that Wii in case you were having such crazy thoughts. The language can get a bit dirty, but nothing you probably haven’t heard before. Without further ado, Screw Attack’s reasons to not sell (or sell) your Wii:

GameSpot has reviewed Boom Blox and while they found it to be entertaining enough, it just has too much repetitive gameplay to garner anything more than a 7.0 score. That’s not the only thing they didn’t like, they also seemed to want a better story and characters out of the game. Hey, fun is fun in my book and I’ll be for sure picking this one up.

It stumbles with certain game modes and its effort to appeal to kids with a poorly integrated story is ham-fisted at best, but Boom Blox is still a good game. Most of the hundreds of puzzles are fun to play alone, and it’s also entertaining to taunt friends during their turn as they try to keep a tower from collapsing. The ability to create your own levels adds quite a bit of value as well. In terms of where it ranks in Spielberg’s body of work, Boom Blox is no Schindler’s List, but it’s a heck of a lot better than Hook.

In case you missed the link tot he review, here it is again.

The Nintendo Channel is here and ready for American gamers to log on and check out some Nintendo DS game demos and more. Here’s a list of DS games to get us started:

- Brain Age 2
- Flash Focus
- Crosswords DS
- Jam Sessions
- Rayman Raving Rabbids 2
- Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends
- Disney Friends
- Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword

Some great pictures showing a walkthrough of the channel and its features.

Here’s a review of the Nintendo Channel by a Geek Dad.

Need some shortcuts? Here you go!

+ & - buttons - go back

B trigger - scroll on pages

Kotaku has a video walkthrough of the channel here.

Want an embedded version of another video walkthrough? OK!

And lastly, here’s Destructoid’s impressions and shots of the service.

I’m off to check it out, post your impressions in the comments!

Protothea is a WiiWare game coming to the system in may and weighs in at 1000 Wii points. More info below from their fact sheet:

Protöthea™

Product Description
Protöthea™ is a top-down vertical scrolling shooter game putting players in complete control of a last-generation spaceship, with the challenge to destroy an asteroid called “Maqno 01” and sabotage the plans of the political faction called “The Core.”

Ubisoft’s WiiWare™ exclusive launch title introduces new concepts to a beloved classic game style while mixing genres and utilizing the full capabilities of the Wii™ system, from graphics to controls.

Players of all ages and experience will easily jump right in and guide their ship through multiple missions on futuristic planets in a complete 3D world featuring non-stop action.

Key Features

Pick Up and Play
Protöthea takes full advantage of the Nintendo Wii Remote™ and Nunchuck giving players total control of their ship via an easy-to-play and extremely intuitive control scheme.

Graphical Prowess
The game takes place in a complete 3D world packed with graphically rich environments, non-stop action featuring explosions and cool special effects.

Enemy AI
Unlike traditional scrolling shooters where enemy paths and maneuvers were predictable, the enemy AI in Protöthea is dynamic and changes based on the player’s actions.
Complete Arsenal of Weapons
A wide range of eight different air-to-air weapons and two different air-to-ground bombs give players a variety of options at their fingertips as they can use any given weapon they’ve obtained at any given time; the slow-down special power gives the spaceship the ability to decelerate time and avoid enemy fire while rapidly moving and attacking enemies.

Storyline and Missions
Protöthea boasts four unique planets where players will battle through ten levels and two difficulty settings to destroy the plans of “The Core,” a faction that plans to use the minerals extracted from the Maqno asteroid to build an army of bio-machines with the objective to control the Free Planets Federation – yeah, totally evil, right?

Product Specifications:
Developers: Sabarasa & Digital Builders
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: May 2008
Category: Action Shooter
Rating: “E” for Everyone
Price: 1,000 Wii Points
Web site: www.ubisoft.com

Boom Blox should be out this week and I for one am definitely picking it up. Here’s a review from the guys at GameVideos.com:

I remember Renegade from back in the day very well but the Pokemon puzzle game not so much. Check out this week’s releases for the North American VC from the press release below:

Which is more important: brains or brawn? Before you answer, check out this week’s awesome additions to the Wii™ Shop Channel, which give you ample opportunity to flex both. One game features frantic puzzle action with a Pokémon® twist, while the other invites players to brawl and battle in the name of justice. If you’re anxious to test your mental mettle or your action-adventure muscle, these classic titles are just the ticket.

Nintendo adds new games to the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time every Monday. Wii™ owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points™ to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week’s new games are:

Pokémon Puzzle League (Nintendo 64®, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii Points): Get ready for a new kind of Pokémon battle where the power and speed of your brain are just as important as the strength of your Pokémon. Join Ash, Brock, Misty and many more characters from the Pokémon animated series as they gather in Puzzle Village to compete for the title of Pokémon Puzzle Master. Just match three or more blocks of the same color in any direction. Sounds simple, right? But the actual game play is surprisingly addictive and deep (chains and combos anyone?), especially when you’re facing off against a human opponent. Choose from six different modes offering a wide range of action, from story or puzzle modes to continuous play or timed play. If that’s not enough, take on the challenge in 3-D and get ready for more blocks than ever before. Featuring animated cut scenes combined with bright, fun graphics, there’s enough to satisfy any fan of Pokémon or puzzle games.

Renegade™ (NES®, 1-2 players, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older – Mild Violence, 500 Wii Points): Renegade follows the story of a vigilante who fights his way through countless gangs in order to bring peace back to his city. Battle your way through subways, parks, alleyways and parking lots. For added fun, there’s a wild motorcycle ride to challenge you. Use your arsenal of kicks, punches (including the infamous sit-on punch) and jump kicks, as well as a variety of throws to knock your opponents into submission. Along the way, pick up items like a hamburger that restores your life, a heart that increases your lives by one, a power-up to increase your attack strength, and a speed item that gives you a speed burst while on your motorcycle. You’ll need all the help you can get to take out your aggression on street punks, thugs, outlaw bikers, killer kung-fu females and an array of bosses standing in your way. Take the law into your own hands to defeat countless scumbags and take your city back like the renegade you are.

Here’s a trailer showing off quite a bit of gameplay footage from Guitar Hero: Aerosmith thanks to GameVideos.com:

Doug Lombardi from Valve Software had some nice things to say about the Nintendo Wii in this article at computerandvideogames.com and even hints to the possibility of Valve working on a kids Wii game in the future. No official announcements of course.

“There’s a lot of people at Valve who are parents and would love to make a game for kids,” Valve’s Doug Lombardi told us recently.

“We all play the Wii a lot and we think that the proper way for Valve to approach the Wii would be to make something cool designed specifically for it.” he added, when quizzed on the possibility of Valve venturing away from its usual FPS scene.

“I mean, I’m not making any announcements”, he continued, “but there’s a lot of desire internally to do something for kids, do something on the Wii.”

Nothing too promising here, he’s essentially saying some of the guys want to entertain making a kids game and if they did, it would be on the Wii. It would be interesting to see Valve branch out from the FPS genre and see what they could pull off.

Found this over at GoNintendo, check out G4’s preview of Boom Blox:

After watching this whole video I must say I want this game now. I wasn’t so sure before but now it’s a must own for me. Look for it in stores around May 6th.

Update: Bumped to give more folks a chance to trade codes.

Just picked up Mario Kart for the Wii here in little ole’ Denton, Texas and I have a couple of quick impressions and a friend code to share so we can get our multiplayer action on.

Overall, very nice, Nintendo presentation that is to be expected and the Wheel that it comes with is solid. More solid than some third party controllers I’ve seen and about on par with the Zapper as far as design and durability go. I only played through one game on 50cc so far but what I’ve played was very smooth, fun, and everything I’ve expected out of a Mario Kart game. I’m just as giddy as the day I played my Nintendo DS version of MK and more satisfied than I was with the GC version of the game already. The Wheel controller works surprisingly well, like so good that I will be using as my main form of controlling the game. It just works, there is no learning curve or feeling of handicap you get from using it. I got first in every race on 50cc using it my first time trying and I know the game will get tougher (and cheaper), but again I was just surprised as to how well the Wheel actually worked. Graphics, sound, and presentation all top notch, no disappointments yet! Well, besides the lack of co-op Grand Prix action. I can’t wait to play some of you online!

Ok, let’s share those friends codes!

Here is my friend code, please respond in the comments if you add me and I will do the same: 4983-5333-7127

Mario Kart for the Wii has a very interesting feature where Nintendo can set up tourneys of sorts that allow gamers all over the world to compete with each other for the virtual 1st place price. The first competition is ready and Aussie-Nintendo.com has the details and screenshots:

I’ll be checking this out more today in-game and seeing what I can get on my run through and maybe post my time for you guys to try. I’ve also been sending out Ghost Time Trials so if you haven’t exchanged friend codes with me yet, be sure to do so and join the fun! I’ll bump the friend codes share post again today to make sure everyone gets in on it.

This is an incredible deal for a great, great game. No, it’s not the Wii version which would be just stunning at this price, but it is the GameCube version which was still loads of fun and overall a great game. Amazon has it right now for $12 freakin’ bucks. Get it while it’s on sale as it may be the best $12 you’ve spent in the past 4 years.

Amazon reviewers have given it 4.5 stars out of 5 which is about right.