They have developed another Nintendo DS Bundle to play with and are releasing it in the US in time for Mothers Day which is on the 3rd of May. The new Nintendo DS Bundle will be lime green and contain Personal Trainer:Cooking.
This could be the ideal gift if you mum is a handheld gamer and loves to cook. Or it might be an excuss for you to get your hands on one. Either way this is another Nintendo DS Bundle we can add to the score sheet.
Nintendo Wii Fit? Will it actually get me fit or is it just a load of wii hype?
Isn’t this just perfect… playing video games and at the same time getting fit!! The funny thing is that this is actually true. Not that you can just get fit and have a poor diet, it has to be a combination of both to gain a major benefit. But even with an average diet you can gain some benefits from the Wii Fit video game system.
When you open your Wii Fit you get the dvd and a wii balance board (or wii board as its also referred to). You simply insert the batteries and insert the dvd into your wii console then your ready to go. First we setup your user profile by entering you current weight, height and setting your centre of gravity by standing on the wii board itself. The allows you to initially calculate your BMI (Body Mass Index).
Once all setup there are around 40 activities that you can carry out dependant on the level you have attained within the games. More levels and games are unlocked the better you do in the activities. The games themselves include Tightrope Walking, ski jumps, football headers, Balance Bubble and Penguin Slide as well as the more traditional Leg Extensions, Push-ups, Triceps Extensions, Side Plank, Waist Twists, Lunge, Rowing Squats, Leg Lift and Parallel Stretching excercises.
Whilst most people associate excercise with being a solitary and boring activity, the nintendo wii fit concept changes all of this to entertain whilst enjoying the activities themselves in a video game like environment.
The wii fit excercise system also gives instant feedback to the user and provides your ‘wii fitness age’ as a focal point for you to beat the next time your play. This value is calculates on your balance, age and weight but your results can also be compared and shared through the wii fitness channel if you choose to do so.
Since the release of the nintendo wii fit system it has sold like hotcakes around the world and stocks are still limited. This tend seems set to continue with christmas comming soon and everyone will be buying for their boyfriends, girlfriends, family and friends.
We all know with christmas comming up, nintendo have been heavily promoting the new range of Ds colours that were released during the summer. I must admit that some of the new colours are pretty cool but is this the final push of the Nintendo lite ds bundle before the release of the much rumoured nintendo Lite DSi console in europe and america in the spring of 2009? Or has the market already been too saturated?
WHo knows? But the big questions I would like to ask is ‘How many of the current DS Lite and DS users will upgrade to the new console?’ and ‘What will the new handheld dsi unit offer them that the current unit does not?
The new DSi will have the following specifications:
- Increased screen size (up from 3.0 to 3.25 inches) - Dual touch screens - Improved resolution (640 x 480) - Dual 3 megapixel Camera Built in ( pictures can be merged together and distorted etc) - Thinner overall unit size (depth is reduced from 21.5 to 18.9mm) - On-board storage - SD Card slot to give full capability for the new features and storage - GBA Slot has been removed - Ability to play MP3 file - 12% lighter in weight - Built in browser with the ability to purchase and download games online
Now that sounds pretty cool, but will my 6 year old son need this when he wants to pay mario karts with his friends, have a game of super mario bros or sonic and mario at the olympics? I don’t think so and neither will any of his friends or more to the point their parents. Ands will I need any of these new and improved features to play one of the more integectual games such as ‘boggle’, ‘scrabble’ or ‘brain training’? again I would say no and to be honest I cannot see the point of many of these additional functions when the main audience in reality are under 12. A build in browser may me cool but it’s not something I want my 6 year son using without my supervision and what about the good old virus crowd? I doubt that before long the credit cards used to purchase game will be hacked as has happened with most of the major players already in those markets.
I can see this as maybe another sony type mistake in assuming that all the current DS users will upgrade to the new unit. It is still not clear on whether the current games will work with the new consoles or the new DSi games will be compatible with the current nintendo lite ds stock that is available. One feature that is built in however is that of region locked compatibility. What does this mean? it means that if you have a european locked console then games purchased from japan or other non-europe regions will not work on the new DSi console.
The console will be released in japan on the 1st of november and will have a price tag of JPY 18,900 (GBP 101, USD 179, EUR 129)
