Wii: The Goodness Keeps On Coming!

I was away yesterday, enjoying the Happiest Place On Earth... I wondered, somewhere between Tomorrowland and Frontierland, what a Nintendo theme park would be like. Not the "Nintendo Amusement Park" some folks have seen on the net, but a true, Nintendo sponsored park, with all the quality and trappings that the Big N could bring...

I digress. Some great things have come to pass concerning Wii this week, as well as on the DS. I don't have time to write about them in detail, so here's a quick list:

1. Wii forecast channel can affect gameplay; first example? Madden NFL 2007. I guess the folks at EA Tiburon knew this was coming, so they set up Madden to use real weather info in their game, if you prefer! Nice! I wonder what this could mean for games like Animal Crossing....

2. Rumors of Metroid and Mario delays for Wii are apparently unfounded, as NOA president Reggie Fils Aime stated that Metroid Prime 3 would still be released in early 07 and Mario by the end of 07.

3. Rumor has it that we may get a free treat from Nintendo on Christmas day. No one knows exactly what, but speculation is that Super Mario Bros. will be available on the Virtual Console.

4. EGM is reporting a rumor (grain of salt) that Namco/Bandai will be bringing new Katamari Damacy games to all next gen platforms, including a unique version for Wii! If you've never played Katamari Damacy, you owe yourself a shot at this quirky, fun title. I got hooked back when I owned a PS2, and I've always regretted that the game didn't come for Cube...

5. Square Enix continues to show love to Nintendo; Dragonquest IX will appear ONLY on Nintendo DS. This, alongside the Wii exclusive Dragonquest Swords and DS exclusive It's A Wonderful World (not to mention the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles games for both), would seem to indicate that the third party tide is turning...

6. With the Forecast channel out already, what else can we look forward to in the way of Wii extras? Well, the Opera web browser trial is hitting in just two days, Dec. 22nd! The full version will apparently be available in March, for free until June and for a mere $5 afterward.

Lotsa good stuff! Yahoo!