EA’s ‘NHL Slapshot’ for Wii includes hockey stick peripheral, grinning Gretzky

Canoe.ca, the web home of Canadian newspaper publisher QMI Agency, has revealed a new Wii hockey game on the way from EA, called NHL Slapshot. This new game has two distinguishing features: first, it is controlled with a scaled-down hockey stick peripheral, into which the Wiimote and Nunchuk are placed; second, it features the likeness of Wayne Gretzky, the retired NHL star so famous that even non-Canadians have heard of him.

“The stick peripheral will detect slap shots, wrist shots, body checks (done with a cross-check motion) and poke checks,” the article explains, “with the Wiimote’s trigger used as a modifier to perform passes, dekes and other moves.” Though the game will ship with the hockey stick, it can also be played with a bare Wiimote and Nunchuk or Wiimote alone.

NHL Slapshot will be officially announced by EA on Monday, according to Canoe. However, the blog already spilled pretty much all the details, including the September 7 release date.

EA’s ‘NHL Slapshot’ for Wii includes hockey stick peripheral, grinning Gretzky originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 30 May 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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R.I.P. Dennis Hopper

The Associated Press reports that Oscar nominated writer, director and actor Dennis Hopper died this morning after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was 74.

In case you didn’t know, Dennis Hopper was a true Hollywood badass through and through. He co-wrote, directed and starred in Easy Rider, one of the greatest movies of all time, played the wildly absurdist photojournalist in Apocalypse Now, and delivered one of the most terrifying performances ever as the nitrous oxide sucking, sadomasochistic Frank Booth in David Lynch’s brilliantly twisted Blue Velvet. He also appeared in such classics as Rebel Without a Cause, Giant, Cool Hand Luke, True Grit, Hoosiers, Speed and Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.

Of course, while actor Gary Coleman, who died yesterday from a brain hemorrhage, crossed into the video game realm on rare occasion, Dennis Hopper was actually a surprisingly active participant in the world of gaming.

You may have noticed one movie was left off that previous list, and it’s the one that a lot of younger gamers will probably recognize him from most readily, and that was of course the 1993 adaptation of Nintendo’s beloved platformer Super Mario Bros., in which Hopper starred as none other than the big bad King Koopa, aka Bowser. I actually haven’t seen the movie since it first came out, so I don’t remember most of it, but I do remember how utterly insane it was. Here’s a clip:

Um. Yeah. Moving on. Hopper appeared most recently in THQ’s somewhat underappreciated Wii game Deadly Creatures (2009) as one of two treasure seekers (the other of which was played by Billy Bob Thorton) whose story intersects with those of a tarantula and a scorpion. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at Hopper’s work on the game:

Black Dahlia is a classic early 90s point-and-click, full-motion video affair. Here’s a scene with Hopper taking about supernatural forces, enchanted stones, and just being generally creepy:

Tangentially, it’s also worth just throwing in a scene from Blue Velvet (If you’ve never seen it, do so this instant!), because of all the David Lynch talk that’s been going around recently thanks to games like Alan Wake and Deadly Premonition, both of which borrow heavily from Lynch’s films, and especially his cult favorite Twin Peaks. Also, any chance to see Hopper in Blue Velvet is something you just have to do. Similar to the Vice City clip, the following scene is not for sensitive eyes or ears, so check it out at your discretion: Pure amazingness can be found here.

The tail end of this scene, however, is perfectly fine for everyone, and is one of the single greatest scenes in film history, so enjoy:

This ended up being a much more elaborate post than I had originally intended, but it was definitely worth it. Dennis Hopper was one-of-a-kind, and he’ll be missed. I’ll be pouring out a little Pabst Blue Ribbon for him later tonight for sure.

Dennis Hopper - Easy Rider - Blue Velvet - Hoosiers - Speed

CTA Digital’s Inflatable Kart for the Wii: at last you can be the coolest kid on your block

Put down that “rare” Transformers figurine, hide that box of “real” Japanese Anime, and don’t even think of showing us your Ninja Turtles costume: we’ve found the ticket to cool you’ve been looking for. CTA Digital, who has always excelled in building stunningly superfluous gaming accessories has outdone itself with the new Inflatable Racing Kart. The best news? It’ll support up to 300 of your hip-cool-guy pounds. Check out a video after the break in case you’re not convinced.

Continue reading CTA Digital’s Inflatable Kart for the Wii: at last you can be the coolest kid on your block

CTA Digital’s Inflatable Kart for the Wii: at last you can be the coolest kid on your block originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 May 2010 18:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Play Mario Kart Wii in your very own inflatable kart

CTA Digital has unveiled one of its largest Wii accessories yet: a $40 inflatable kart with an attached steering wheel controller, into which you can insert the Wiimote to play Mario Kart Wii and other racing games.

Our first impulse is to make fun of this unnecessary accessory (an “unnecessory,” if you will), but two things give us pause:

1. CTA is using the item’s marketing to publicize Kids are Heroes, an organization that encourages community involvement among kids — even going so far as to use Ricky Springer, who races real karts to raise money and awareness for Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disorder, as a spokesman.
2. Unlike other plastic Wii accessories, there is no doubt in our minds that if our six-year-old selves had seen an inflatable car you could use as a game controller, we would have freaked out.

Play Mario Kart Wii in your very own inflatable kart originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 29 May 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ferrari Challenge (Video Game) newly tagged "wii game"

Wii with Wii Sports Resort - Black (Video Game) newly tagged "wii game"

Report: Nintendo, Others Inspecting Suicides At Assembly Plants

A rash of Chinese worker suicides has prompted Nintendo to re-examine labor conditions at Wii console assembler Foxconn, as the firm faces global scrutiny from partners including Microsoft, Sony, and Apple, according to a report in the UK Times Online. Over the past few months, 10 employees at the Taiwanese-headquartered Faxconn, which employs 800,000 Chinese workers, have committed suicide. Young factory workers have been hurling themselves from the dormitories on the factories’ premises, with some …

Platform Holders Investigating Factory Deaths

Nintendo, Sony and Apple are among the companies investigating working conditions at Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer that runs the largest factory in the world.

Ten employees at the company’s giant complex in Shenzhen, China, which employs around 350,000 mostly migrant workers, have committed suicide over the past few months.

Foxconn assembles a wide range of consumer electronics including PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, iPhone and iPad, and many of its major clients are concerned that their images could be tarnished by the recent deaths.

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Slow Week For Hardware Sales In Japan

Sales of every hardware platform bar Xbox 360 fell in Japan during the week ended May 23.

PSP-3000 was again the individual bestseller, while PSPgo remained at the foot of the rankings with less than 1,000 sales.

Combined DS sales topped those of Sony’s portable and PS3 edged Wii by around 500 sales.

Weekly hardware sales totals (previous week):
PSP - 22,462 (24,475)
PS3 – 19,075 (20,463)
Wii - 18,465 (17,570)
DSi LL - 14,108 (15,879)
DSi - 9,356 (9,990)

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Video Game-Based Lingerie Collection: Love It or Leave It?