Wii News
News Yes, We're Getting A Brand New Guitar Hero Controller For Wii In 2025
Pinch yourself
No, you're not misreading the headline — video game peripheral maker Hyperkin has released a brand new Guitar Hero controller. In 2025. For the Nintendo Wii. Announcing the news on New Year's Day (spotted via GameSpot), the Hyper Strummer is a retro controller that's based on the company's previous model and compatible with all Wii...
News Nintendo's Punch-Out!! Series May Be Dead And Buried For Good
All punch'd out
We don't know about you, but amongst all of Nintendo's game series, Punch-Out!! rarely sits at the top of our revival wishlist. Don't get us wrong, we'd absolutely bloomin' love a new entry, but we'd honestly rather see the likes of F-Zero and Chibi-Robo! make their grand return on the Switch or its upcoming successor. Regardless of...
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...
News Wii Build Of Free Radical's Cancelled 'Star Wars Battlefront 3' Has Been Discovered
The build is from a week before cancellation
After almost ten years of research and internet digging, a brand new build of the Wii version of Radical Forge's Star Wars Battlefront 3 has been discovered. Footage of the build has been shared on YouTube by modder iamshaymin as well as on r/GamingLeaksAndRumours. According to the footage, the build is...
News 'Nintendo Music' Adds A Huge Zelda Soundtrack, Here's Every Song Included
186 tracks from Skyward Sword take flight
Nintendo's weekly music app updates continue with the company today adding The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword soundtrack. This title originally made its debut during the Wii generation in 2011 and made use of Wii Motion Plus controls. The game was more recently re-released in HD on the Switch in 2021. This...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Okami
AwoOooOo
Get your paintbrushes ready, because it's time for another edition of Box Art Brawl! Last week, we matched up a trio of covers for Wario Land 3 on the Game Boy Color and after a weekend of voting, we were left with a clear winner. It was the European variant that walked away with the win, taking 42% of the vote and leaving the North...
"If you're not directly working on the game, go away"
We know that Nintendo can be a little protective of its intellectual properties (now there's an understatement), but it turns out that the company's micromanagement was enough to make one artist on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption leave his position at Retro Studios. That's according to a recent...
Random This Awesome Pokémon Build Transforms Porygon Into A Working Nintendo Wii
"PorWiigon"
We've covered the sweet work of tech wizard BigRig Creates on Nintendo Life in the past (this is the designer behind the world's largest working DS and its 3D counterpart), and this week he has caught our eye again with a colourful Pokémon-inspired build that has us looking at our bland Wii consoles i
Random Have You Ever Triggered This Rare Super Mario Galaxy Dialogue?
Bro, c'mon
If you're anything like us, then chances are you've played Super Mario Galaxy to death. After all, even 17 years (!) after its release on the Wii, it's still considered to be one of, if not the best 3D Mario game. When completing some of the tasks in the game, we have to admit that once that irresistible Power Star pops up, we tend to...
News 'Nintendo Music' Update Adds Wii Sports Soundtrack, Here's Every Song Included
Relive the glory days of Wii
The new Switch Online music mobile app Nintendo Music has today been updated with 30 tracks from Wii Sports. If you boot up the app, you can now listen to songs like the game's theme, the main menu song, the catchy Tennis player selection, training and results music, the bowling soundtrack, and much more. All up, this...
Rumour More Evidence Of 'MySims' Switch Revival Surfaces Online
"The Switch port of MySims is real"
Earlier this week, a rumour popped up about The Sims spin-off 'MySims' possibly making a return, after listings for a Switch version of the game appeared on two European retail websites. It seems there's now mounting evidence of the game's return, with reports EA's official Switch webpage has now been updated...
Rumour Wii & DS Favourite 'MySims' Could Be Coming To Switch Soon
A blast from the past
Who remembers MySims? The spin-off to Maxis' hugely popular The Sims series, MySims saw you play as a cute little avatar attempting to restore and redevelop a run-down town. It launched on Wii and DS in 2007 before making the jump to PC and phones the following year. Well, it sounds like MySims could be making a comeback...
News According To Hideki Kamiya, Ōkami's Development Team Was 'Weak'
"This team was the worst!"
Clover Studio's Ōkami was one of the most critically acclaimed games of its day when it launched on PS2 in 2006 and Wii in 2008. Despite this, Hideki Kamiya has revealed that its development team was, on the whole, pretty weak. This comes via a new video from 'UNSEEN' on YouTube in which Kamiya and Ikumi Nakamura sit...
Random Golden Wii Intended For Queen Elizabeth II Will Be Shown At Gamescom
"One shall be player one"
It's fair to say that the late Queen Elizabeth II had her fair share of bling during her 70-year reign; you know, the Imperial State Crown, the Sovereign's Orb, the Kokoshnik Tiara... rather expensive stuff, a few notches above the kind of tat you might have found at the bottom of a box of Coco Pops. Given her status,...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Primed for battle
Hello everyone, and welcome back to another edition of Box Art Brawl! Before we get cracking with this week's battle, let's see how things panned out last time. We looked at Turok 2: Seeds of Evil for the N64 and golly gosh, was it a close one. It seemed many of you weren't too keen on either design, but ultimately, it was the...
News 2004 Satoru Iwata Interview Has Been Remastered And Presented In Full
Legendary CEO discusses Miyamoto, 'Revolution', and more
A previously unpublished interview with the late, great Satoru Iwata has been remasted and presented in full by Adam Doree on YouTube (thanks, Time Extension). Conducted by Doree's website at the time, Kikizo, the interview was originally only available partially back in 2004. The new...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Guide Best First-Party Wii Games
Nintendo's Wii games, as ranked by you
Nintendo's Wii opened up the door to millions of people who had never tried a video game before, and its software library boasts some of the most varied and approachable gaming experiences of any of Nintendo's consoles, including many stone-cold classics in both the 'casual' and 'hardcore' categories from both...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Soapbox EA Playground Is A Forgotten Gem And Deserves To Be Remembered With Wii Sports
Playing games in the uncanny valley
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 its 15-year anniversary, Jim pleads the case for a forgotten Wii classic... If there’s one thing that you could always rely on the Wii to achieve, it was...
News Fan Discovers GameCube Dev Kit That Uses Early Wii Menu Build
A sensor of history
Update [Mon 3rd Oct, 2022 16:00]: A previous version of this article reported that a GameCube development kit was found in an early build of the Wii's menu. This was incorrect — a GameCube development unit was discovered to be using an early build of the Wii menu. We have amended the article to reflect this. A GameCube...
Random Wii Music Walked So 'Trombone Champ' Could Run, And We Need A Switch Port
Coming up trumps
If you are unfortunate enough to have not graced Twitter in the past 24 hours (we don't necessarily blame you), then you probably will have missed the meteoric rise of Trombone Champ, and with it's Mii-style visuals, it had us feeling a bit reminiscent. This Guitar Hero-inspired game from Holy Wow Studios is an absolute hoot (or...
News Retro's Mysterious Zelda Spin-Off 'Project X' Apparently Had A Playable Prototype
Described as a "simplified" version of Whack-A-Mole
New details have emerged online today about Retro Studios' mysterious Legend of Zelda title 'Project X'. Although this spin-off never saw the light of day, it seems there was actually a working prototype. In the same 'DidYouKnowGaming?' YouTube video, the gameplay within this title was discussed...
