Nintendo Wii Game and Accessory Reviews

Shadow Tower Wii Announced First Magazine Scans

These are some new magazine Scans of the Nintendo Wii game Shadow Tower

Tags: Nintendo Wii, Shadow Tower

NewU Fitness First Personal Trainer Wii New Screens and Boxart

These are some new images and the Boxart of the Nintendo Wii game NewU Fitness First Personal Trainer

Tags: Nintendo Wii, NewU Fitness First Personal Trainer

My Sims Agents Wii New Screens And Boxart

These are some new images and the Boxart of the Nintendo Wii game My Sims Agents

Tags: Nintendo Wii, My Sims Agents

California Man Charged for Modifying Consoles

Modification may result in 10 year prison sentence

Anaheim, California resident Matthew Crippen faces federal charges for illegally modifying various game systems in order to play pirated video games, reports the Associated Press.

Crippen, a 27-year-old California State University student has been arrested for violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act when modifying his Xbox, Playstation, and Wii game consoles.  He was released Monday after posting a $5,000 bond, but may find 10 years in prison  if he is convicted.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a section of the Department of Homeland Security, was tipped-off on the illegal activity by the Entertainment Software Association, according to the AP.  The ICE searched Crippen's home in May to find the modified consoles.  He is scheduled for arraignment on August 10.

Many assume that the main draw for piracy in the games industry are the creation and distribution of video game copies.  Rather, it seems, modification of game consoles themselves, and giving players the ability to play these pirated games is proving just as illegal.

While some may argue the case for things like homebrew, there are plenty of legal ways to get your "indie" fix.  If anything, the story here is that piracy is being actively battled, even in terms of the consoles themselves.  This, in addition to game hackers being possibly battled on the Wii, puts some of the "bad guys" of the games industry in a tough spot.

The Wiire has reached out to the Entertainment Software Association for comment.

Who Needs Friend Codes?

Guitar Hero 5 sure doesn't

I think at least the majority of Wii gamers can agree that Friend Codes are bad. They provide unneccesary hassle when it comes to playing games online, and in most cases, severly inhibit a players ability to meet new people while playing online. Not to mention the fact that with every new game, comes a new Friend Code, requiring you to get multiple codes for multiple games. One company, Vicarious Vision, has realized the hassle that Friend Codes create, and has completely dropped them in the upcoming Guitar Hero 5.

Instead of using yet another set of in-game Friend Codes, Guitar Hero 5 is going to use your Wii Friend Code. What is that you ask? It's the code found in your address book, that up until this point, didn't do much of anything except allow you to send messages to friends. The game will automatically take your address book friends, and add them into your list of Guitar Hero friends. Adding new friends will be similar to the old system, where you'll get their Wii Friend Code and add it to the list. Hopefully more games in the will begin to take this approach, and in the future we will only need our universal Wii Friend Code, as opposed to a new code for every new game.

Does this renewed online approach want to make you buy the game, if you were on the fence before?

Via Destructoid