Wii - Timeline
Tuesday9th Apr 2024
Soapbox Vanillaware's Most Underrated Game Is More Than Just A Pretty Picture
Deserving of a Rebirth
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Alana is talking about a Vanillaware oldie — Muramasa: The Demon Blade, a Wii title that is celebrating its 15th anniversary. And, in the wake of 13 Sentinels and Unicorn...
Thursday15th Feb 2024
News Horror Game Doc 'TerrorBytes' To Include Interviews With 'Eternal Darkness' Director
Pre-orders available now
An upcoming five-part documentary celebrating the history of horror gaming has added Eternal Darkness director Denis Dyack and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories designer Sam Barlow to its growing list of industry experts. TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming will contain five hour-long episodes delving into the storied...
Sunday11th Feb 2024
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Inazuma Eleven Strikers
Cover goals
It's the weekend and that can only mean one thing, it's time for another edition of What Are You Pla- wait, no, not that one. It's time for another edition of Box Art Brawl! Before we kick off this week's match-up, let's take it back to last time when we looked at the Virtual Boy's Jack Bros. For such a rare game, this was a pretty...
Friday29th Dec 2023
Feature The One Thing Wii Did Much Better Than Switch
Point taken
The Sensor Bar. Flimsy little plastic box with the world's longest, spindliest cable. An irritation to every Wii owner who has ever had to move their console. What was it good for? There's not a lot to the Sensor Bar. A little device that emits some infrared light. If the Wii Remote is pointed at one, it recognises that's where the TV...
Monday27th Nov 2023
Random Mario And Luigi Have Spin Jump Control Preferences In Super Mario Galaxy
And it all comes down to which controller you shake
It's no secret that we at Nintendo Life love Super Mario Galaxy. Since its release in 2007, we have played through this planet-hopping adventure several times with both Wii remote and Joy-Con (thanks to its re-release in Super Mario 3D All-Stars), but every day is a school day and we have just...
Sunday22nd Oct 2023
Poll Box Art Brawl: Wario Land: Shake It!
Shake it off, shake it off, woo-ooo-OOO!
Welcome back to another edition of Box Art Brawl, folks! Naturally, before we see who we've got entering the ring this week, let's see how things went down last time, shall we? Professor Layton and the Unwound Future was our pick of the week and we had three variations battle it out to claim victory...
Thursday14th Sep 2023
News Another Code: Recollection Remakes Two Cult Classics On Switch in January 2024
Tracing memories
Cing's classic point-and-click adventure series Another Code is getting remade on Nintendo Switch in the form of Another Code: Recollection, which launches on Switch on 19th January 2024. This remake contains both Another Code: Two Memories (known as Trace Memory in North America), which launched on the DS in 2005, and the 2009 Wii...
Tuesday29th Aug 2023
News Nintendo Switch Has Surpassed The Wii's Lifetime Sales In The US
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom played a huge part
Nintendo's Switch has just achieved another sales milestone. Although worldwide hardware sales of the hybrid system surpassed Wii sales some time ago, there's been an update in the US. According to new data from Circana (previously the NPD), US lifetime sales of Switch hardware have "finally" overtaken...
Friday21st Jul 2023
News The GameCube And Wii Emulator Dolphin Is No Longer Coming To Steam
"We are abandoning our efforts"
The team behind GameCube and Wii emulator Dolphin has announced it is "abandoning" its efforts to release the product on Steam. Valve's requirement is for the Dolphin team "to get approval from Nintendo" for a Steam release, and this is believed to be "impossible". "Valve ultimately runs the store and can set any...
Wednesday5th Jul 2023
Random Fan Makes Wii Menu Animations For Switch Games, And The Results Are Brilliant
Wii miss you
We all remember the start-up animations from the Wii home menu, right? You'd select a game, see the icon fill the screen and then watch a short animation (accompanied by music, of course) while you chose whether to start the title or head back to the home page. We miss them. For many of us, these menu animations are deeply ingrained in...
Friday9th Jun 2023
Soapbox The Shame Of Revisiting My Abandoned Pokémon Ranch
See you, PokéCowboy
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, on the 15th anniversary of the game's release, Ethan heads back to the ranch... It’s a guilty feeling that Animal Crossing fans know all too well — the shame that comes...
Saturday3rd Jun 2023
News Valve Confirms It Contacted Nintendo About Dolphin Emulator Coming To Steam
"We brought this to their attention proactively"
Towards the end of May, the team behind Dolphin Emulator revealed its release on Steam had been "indefinitely postponed" after it was contacted by Valve. Valve spokesperson Kaci Aitchison Boyle has now issued a statement (via The Verge), confirming Valve originally reached out to Nintendo: Given...
Monday29th May 2023
News Dolphin Emulator Steam Release "Indefinitely Postponed"
Update: Nintendo responds with statement
Update #3 [Sat 3rd Jun, 2023 01:35 BST]: Valve spokesperson Kaci Aitchison Boyle has now issued a statement (via The Verge), noting how Valve was the one to inform Nintendo: Given Nintendo’s history of taking action against some emulators, we brought this to their attention proactively after the Dolphin...
Sunday28th May 2023
Random Console Modder Creates A Fully Functional "Wii XL"
Move over, 3DS XL
There's a huge scene online invested in modding and recreating Nintendo's past systems in all sorts of weird and wonderful ways, and the latest video doing the rounds is a "Wii XL" project. Yes, move aside 3DS XL, because there's a new and much bigger system on the block. Modder and YouTuber Jon Bringus (Bringus Studios) thought...
Friday12th May 2023
Anniversary LostWinds First Launched 15 Years Ago Today
Let's Toku 'bout it
Today marks the 15th anniversary of LostWinds in North America, a launch title for WiiWare and (in this writer's opinion) one of the console's finest bite-sized games. The title was developed and published by Frontier Developments out West, though Square Enix took care of publishing duties for LostWinds' Japan release in...
Friday5th May 2023
News Wii Sports Officially Inducted Into The Video Game Hall Of Fame
Rare's FPS GoldenEye 007 didn't make the cut
Update [Fri 5th May, 2023 00:25 BST]: The 2023 inductees for The Strong Museum 'World Video Game Hall of Fame' have now been revealed and Wii Sports has officially been selected. It was picked alongside Barbie Fashion Designer, Computer Space and PlayStation's hit, The Last of Us. Unfortunately, games...
Sunday16th Apr 2023
Random Modder Constructs Wii & GameCube Portable With "Reactive RGB"
"In-person, it looks really, really cool"
Nintendo hardware modder Shank is back at it, this time with a "reactive color-changing" Wii and GameCube portable system. It's called the 'GloWii' and uses RGB LEDs & video processing to display lighting through the transparent GB case. Here's a quick highlight reel of it running all sorts of Nintendo...
Monday10th Apr 2023
Poll Did You Use Motion Controls In Mario Kart Wii?
Wii Wheel, Wii Wheel rock you!
Picture the scene: the year is 2008 and you, a massive Nintendo fan, are gearing up for the next instalment in the Mario Kart series after the incredible online experience of Mario Kart DS and having poured many, many hours into the former home console endeavours on Mario Kart: Double Dash!! But something is different...
Sunday9th Apr 2023
Poll Box Art Brawl: Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
In the firing line
Hello chums, and welcome to another edition of Box Art Brawl! Before we get stuck in with this week's three-way battle, let's take a look at how last week's brawl went down. It was Kirby's Adventure's time to shine, with box art from North America and Europe going up against Japan in a classic duel. Rather surprisingly, in this...
Tuesday28th Mar 2023
Random The GameCube & Wii Emulator Dolphin Is Coming To Steam In Q2 2023
"This has been the product of many months of work"
The development team behind the GameCube and Wii emulator Dolphin has shared some surprising news - announcing Dolphin will be "coming soon" to Valve's Steam service in Q2 2023. You can even wishlist the free download right now. When Dolphin launches as an early access game on the Steam Store, the...
Tuesday31st Jan 2023
Talking Point 15 Years On, Should Super Smash Bros. Brawl's Subspace Emissary Return?
In Smash Space, no one can hear you brawl
Well blimey, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is celebrating its 15th anniversary in Japan today! That's right, the third entry in what is one of the most iconic Nintendo franchises launched on 31st January 2008, and for many — even with how huge Melee was — this is what created some of the most iconic Smash...
Random You Can Use Your Switch Joy-Cons As A Replacement Wii Sensor Bar
Switcheroo
This week, the good folk over on our video team have been looking ahead to the year 2023 and getting down their predictions for what is to come. These thoughts ranged from the likely (more Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC) to the slightly less likely (a Part Time UFO sequel) and we have linked the full video at the bottom of this article for you...
Thursday26th Jan 2023
News Vanillaware President Really Wants A 'Muramasa' Port But Admits "There Are Problems"
"Our priority now is to start on the homework that has been piling up"
In a recent interview with Nintenderos, Vanillaware president George Kamitani admitted that he wants to bring Wii Metroidvania Muramasa: The Demon Blade to modern consoles one day. However, there are things stopping it. Vanillaware has been on a bit of a roll lately with Switch...
Monday16th Jan 2023
Random Early Build Footage Of Unreleased DS de Blob Game Surfaces Online
The blob that never was
In a time before Splatoon, de Blob was the big name in spreading colourful ink around town. Unlike Nintendo's inky shooter, the series saw you take control of a colour-absorbing ball which would complete various challenges by spreading paint across a monochromatic landscape. You might remember de Blob on the Wii, its sequel...
Thursday12th Jan 2023
Random Twitch Chat Beats "Every Single Sport" In Wii Sports
It even got a home run in baseball
We've seen Twitch chat beat games like Pokémon and even The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but how about a more active game? Over the holiday break, Twitch and variety streamer GappyV decided to invent the ultimate test - creating code that converted basic messages into Wii Remote and Nunchuk inputs to see...
Wednesday11th Jan 2023
News New Super Mario Galaxy 2 Speedrun World Record Set In Thrilling Live Race
Speedrunner Jhay beats his own record
Update [Wed 11th Jan, 2023 22:30 GMT]: The VOD is now live on YouTube, so you can check out the whole race in the video above! AGDQ 2023 is underway right now, and if you haven't been watching it already, you've been missing some cracking speedruns from the very best runners in the world. And yesterday, a...
Sunday4th Dec 2022
News Former Retro Studios Dev Reveals "Rejected" Wii Pitch Metroid Tactics
"It's basically XCOM"
It seems the Metroid Prime series wasn't the only Metroid series being worked on at Retro Studios. Did You Know Gaming has been able to uncover one of the developer's other projects that never saw the light of day. Metroid Tactics was a concept pitched internally by Paul Tozer - a member of the Metroid Prime team. This...
Thursday24th Nov 2022
Random Move Over Apple, You Can Run Mac OS On The Wii
Old meets older
The Wii is now 16 years old. That might be enough to set you off on a certain existential crisis, true, but we can all take comfort in the fact that people are still discovering new things that the console is capable of. Take Pierre Dandumont for example, who has finally managed to answer the age-old question - could you get a Wii to...
Monday21st Nov 2022
Video The Wii Is Now Old Enough To Drive
The Wiil of Time
While we were all caught up with the Wii U turning ten over the last week, there was also a big anniversary for the Wii which turned a wrinkle-inducing, hair-greying, grand total of 16 years old! Yep, that's right, the Wii is now old enough to drive. Once you have finished staring off into space at the sudden realisation of how...
Monday7th Nov 2022
A deep dive into a forgotten classic
When discussing horror games for the Nintendo Wii, there's one in particular that absolutely dominates the coversation thanks to its astounding impact and enduring legacy: Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition. It's such an important game that some of the other horror titles on the Wii often get overlooked - undeservedly...
