Punch-Out!! Impressions

How many times have we seen this story? The story of a former champ who thinks he has one last title shot in him. A former champ who just doesn’t know when to quit. Rocky, Roberto Duran, Oscar De La Hoya, they’ve all been victims to this sad story. Now after 15 years Nintendo is bringing the former Video Game Champ, Little Mac, out of retirement and back into the ring. And you know what? Little Mac still has some fight left in him.

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Tiger and Grand Slam Releases Pushed Up

Both Wii versions of Tiger Woods 10 and Grand Slam Tennis will now release on Monday June 8th. Previously they were slated to come out on Tuesday June 16th. This release date change is significant because they now come out the same day as the Wii MotionPlus controller add-on. Instead of having no games to utilize M+ with at launch now there are two highly anticipated ones.

There will be a limited run of Tiger Woods 10 bundled with M+ that will go for $59.99. The bundle offers a savings of $10 over buying M+ which sells for $20 seperately.

Early Madden 10 Wii Preview

Ever since the Wii exploded onto the scene there has been the question what the user base would respond to when it came to licensed sports games. By in large the efforts so far have been met with apathy. The only one that has been a real success is the Tiger Woods series. That and Grand Slam Tennis now get the enhancement that comes with Wii MotionPlus. Nascar Kart Racing recently joined the success column as they went away from sim to completely arcade. However team sports games don’t  seem to translate as well to the console and attempts to straddle the hardcore-casual line (All-Play) have not worked out.

Thankfully EA Sports seems to have realized this and we’re seeing the start of a new direction for the Wii with Madden 10. No one gets excited about playing the PS2 version of Madden on the Wii. Instead the idea was to create a completely new and fun experience. This is the first year the Wii version has been developed at the Tiburon studio which is significant and should result in better offerings going forward.

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Tiger 10 Bundled With WiiMotion Plus

There has been an interesting series of developments over the last month or so when it comes to the launch of Wii MotionPlus. At first it appeared that the Wiimote add-on was essentially delayed and would miss the releases of the first two games to utilize it, those being Tiger Woods 10 and Grand Slam Tennis. Then the official announcement was made that the M+ would be available on its own on June 8th and then the expected bundle with Wii Sports Resort would wait until July 26th. Today though comes news that Wii MotionPlus will actually be bundled with Tiger Woods 10 for a limited time upon release of the game on June 16th.

This exclusive and limited-time offer is exciting news for sports fans who want to enhance their Wii experience for a great value with the new Wii MotionPlus right at launch with Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10. The functionality of the Wii MotionPlus will help us deliver the authentic, true-to-life sports motion for Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 and EA SPORTS Grand Slam Tennis that will redefine the sports experience on the Wii.

Tiger 10 on its own will be $49.99 and the MotionPlus bundle will sell at $59.99. This cuts the cost of the add-on in half as bought seperately MotionPlus will be $20. EA must be ecstatic they were able to pull this off given the frantic rate that any Nintendo peripheral for the Wii sells at. While the add-on will be out for purchase seperately consumers may wait until they can get it alongside a game that utilizes it and that first opportunity will be picking it up along with Tiger 10.

Wii MotionPlus Coming June 8th

July had been the expected arrival time for Wii MotionPlus before now which was somewhat problematic considering the June releases of Tiger Woods 10 and Grand Slam Tennis. Nintendo has officially announced today that the controller add-on will be available for purchase on June 8th. The price will be $19.99 or it can be purchased for $49.99 when bundled with Wii Sports Resort on July 26th.

This means that M+ will be available for the launches of Tiger and Grand Slam on June 16th. These two games take full advantage and it enhances them immensely. So much so that I believe it may turn them into the preferred option for the hardcore players when put up against their 360/PS3 counterparts.

The only obstacle is the price which is higher than most had been anticipating. A family with four wiimotes will have to spend $80 to upgrade them or $110 if picking up Wii Sports Resort. The total price of a single fully equiped wiimote is now $80 (controller, nunchuck, M+) which is twice as much as a controller for the PS3 and 360. This isn’t going to prevent those people who only need one or maybe two of them from picking them up. But for the money conscious family, a big portion of the Wii’s consumer base, it may be asking too much for them to invest such a signficiant amount on a controller upgrade.

MotionPlus Delay Will Affect Upcoming Games

Grand Slam Tennis and Tiger Woods 10 will both be utilizing the new Wii MotionPlus controller add-on. Unfortunately it is becoming more and more apparent that MotionPlus has been delayed from its original targeted release. Nintendo has dropped it from its release schedule and rumors are now circulating that is because are attempting to work out some issues with it.

And that leaves EA out to dry in this situation. Recently they came out and stated the games will still perform well even without MotionPlus. Which is another sign that internally they are aware it won’t be making it out in time for their June 16th releases. Clearly it’ll take some excitement out of the releases if the add-on isn’t ready to go in time though.

These are two of the games I’ll be checking out later this week. It seems unlikely that MotionPlus will make an appearance at the event but I’m sure it’ll end up as a big topic of discussion.

Grand Slam Tennis Site Launches

In addition to unveiling the name for what was previously known as EA Sports Tennis the official website for Grand Slam Tennis has gone live. The game will be one of the first to utilize the Wii Motion Plus, includes all four Grand Slam tournaments, and will be releasing on the Wii (June 16th) before the 360/PS3 receive a version of their own later in the year. More details on the game such as roster of players and cover announcement will be made in the near future.

This is one of the games that I’ll get to check out in a couple weeks. If you have any general questions about it feel free to leave them in the comments.

Tiger and Tennis Will Use Wii Motion Plus

Through an email laying out the plans for an upcoming media event EA has confirmed that both Tiger Woods 10 and their soon to be officially named tennis franchise will be utilizing the Wii Motion Plus. These are the two games that certainly seem most fitting for the 1:1 technology that will come with Motion Plus. The accessory attaches to the bottom of the Wiimote to capture a greater level of movement precision.

Even without the upgrade Tiger has been by far the most successful title for EA Sports on the Wii and the swinging worked extremely well. Knowing that it will be enhanced even more makes this year’s effort even more intriguing. It’ll be interesting to see how they do with the tennis game also. There are multiple other tennis offerings already out in the works however this will be the first one to use Motion Plus.

First Nascar Kart Racing Details

Not long ago I posted about the introduction of Nascar to the Wii. Rather than a sim representation EA Sports decided to go with a Kart theme. While my general feeling that the Wii audience won’t be interested in a game with Nascar in the title still stands, we do have some more details on Nascar Kart Racing via ESPN’s Jon Robinson which make it sounds as though it could turn out to be a fun game.

So what should you expect? How about Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart dropping oil slicks behind them as they race for first, the Dover monster starring as an actual monster on the track, and teammates who are able to work together to slingshot one another to first place.

The game is currently slated for a February 10th release at a price of $39.99. Recent titles on the Wii have been disappointments as has the start to the Freestyle brand. That is more than enough reason to remain skeptical. It will be interesting to see if they can successfully mesh a sport that has very little casual attraction and create a game that will be appealing to consumers who aren’t fans of Nascar.

#10 of 2008: Tiger Woods 09

Tiger Woods 09 delivered a solid all-around experience while enhancing the online enabled aspects of the game. As with many of the other EA Sports titles it attempted to increase its accessibility, here with the addition of Hank Haney assisting with your progression. Ultimately it lands at #10 in my Top Games of 2008 and not any higher because it is golf and there is a limit to how much I can get out of it.

Improvements were made to GamerNet which is an innovative feature introduced in 08. The aspect I enjoyed most though was the simultaneous online play. What used to be a slow and somewhat boring time playing online now moves along at a much more enjoyable rate. Being able to see the colored ball trails of your opponents is a nice touch and provides that interactive feel.

Tiger is easily the best sports game representation found on the Wii. With as close to 1:1 swing motion the Wiimote can provide there is even more potential for 2010 when the Wii MotionPlus will be available. Despite the console not being known for its online options the simultaneous online play was available on this version also and performed surprisingly well. It may not have the graphical prowess of the 360 and PS3 versions but it conformed to the strengths of the Wii without being dumbed down. There is a reason why it continues to be the strongest seller for EA Sports on the system.