The successor to the popular Wii console will integrate a popular touch-card technology into its controllers. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said the device will use NFC, or near field communication, standards that are widely employed in tap-and-go train passes and other payment systems worldwide.

“It will become possible to create cards and figurines that can electronically read and write data via noncontact NFC,” Iwata said in a speech, a copy of which was posted on Nintendo’s web site.

“Adoption of this functionality will enable various other possibilities such as using it as a means of making micropayments,” he added.

The Nintendo chief said final details about the Wii U will be announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, a major annual game exhibition to be held this year in June in Los Angeles.

The Wii U has a large controller that is similar to a dedicated handheld console, with a touchscreen, motion detection and camera. Its small screen can be used to supplement games played on TVs or replace the larger display entirely.

Speaking about related Nintendo technologies, Iwata added that Nintendo is working to expand StreetPass and SpotPass, the peer-to-peer platforms of the device, which let users communicate and compete via their 3DS consoles. The company is also working to expand its fledgling online shop for the device.

Looks like I may have an original Wii up for sale soon.

James Hicks

James is the Founder and Chief Technologist of HicksNewMedia, a technology consulting and digital publishing firm providing effective and relevant solutions to individuals and businesses looking to utilize all things on the interweb. Follow him on Twitter | about.me | Facebook | Google+

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Entertainment value – 4/5

I have to rate it at least a 4 out of 5 given that I can’t seem to stop playing it.  I enjoy the building aspect of it I suppose.   There’s no real action or mystery to solve, yet I find myself coming back again and again.  I like the social interaction but wish there was a little more direct interaction (comments perhaps) with Facebook friends.

Ease of Use 4/5

The controls are straight forward and intuitive.  I wish I could rotate the screen because sometime certain “smaller” structures get hidden behind larger structures which makes them hard to reach.  Also there are some challenges which ask you to visit ‘so and so’s’ house – there does not seem to be a simple way to view who lives where without having to select each one.

Likelihood of replay 5/5

As mentioned, I keep playing this game.

Graphics and Sound 4/5

Looks good.

Lance

If the computer breaks, the network won’t connect or a cell phone is acting funny, the family calls me. I’ve worked in and around technology development for nearly 20 years. I’m a tech, information and football fanatic with a short attention span who is always trying out new things and sharing information about them with others. In my “free” time, I enjoy drawing, photography, writing, watching anime and spending time with my family. Follow me on Twitter | Facebook

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Title Page

This is no Tiger Woods golf with all the great graphics and in-depth game play but in my 15 minute tryout, I was pretty entertained.  Basically you’re a little stick guy and you play golf – the controls are simple, you adjust the angle of your shot then you control the power by tapping the go! Button.  You tap once to start a little green gauge then one again to stop it.  Depending on where you want the ball to go, you either want the gauge to be full or only partially filled.

Using your fingers you can zoom in and out of each map to review the terrain, account for any obstacles and determine the best shot path.

Along the way, you unlock different types of power ups – I only made it through the first round and earned a ‘stickyball’ which sticks to stuff.

Entertainment value  3.9/5

I can’t say I’m aching to play again, but I probably will.

Ease of Use 4.5/5

The game is very easy to use.  Since you do not have to hammer on the buttons or look away from the screen while you’re tapping, the controls are very easy.

Likelihood of replay 4/5

As I mentioned, I’ll probably play it again.

Graphics and Sound 3/5

For a ‘stickman’ game, I don’t expect a lot so even though I scored this relatively low –– I was not disappointed.  There was no music during the main game play but during the selection screens there’s an old-school-video-game-sounding track that plays in the back ground.  I imagine that would get annoying over time but you can turn down your volume or, I think, shut off the music.

Overall 3.85/5

If you’re not looking for fancy graphics, this game seems like a good fit for a golf or gaming fan.  I have not yet tried the multiplayer but that seems to be a nice added touch too.

Where to get it

itunes link

How much is it

The cost of this app seems to vary quite a bit – as of this writing it’s $0.99

Game Play

Hey I hit a hole in one!

I earned a new 'special ball'

In game tip system, nice touch

Lance

If the computer breaks, the network won’t connect or a cell phone is acting funny, the family calls me. I’ve worked in and around technology development for nearly 20 years. I’m a tech, information and football fanatic with a short attention span who is always trying out new things and sharing information about them with others. In my “free” time, I enjoy drawing, photography, writing, watching anime and spending time with my family. Follow me on Twitter | Facebook

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Using Xbox Kinect technology, the athletes ran and jumped in place for a chance to claim their spot on the podium.

Events included sprints, discus and the javelin throw.

In the end, the top team was from Guatemala, second place was the Czech Republic and the U.S. came in third.

Organizers hope to one day make the virtual Olympics a worldwide event where people can participate from home.

[story via NBC News]

James Hicks

James is the Founder and Chief Technologist of HicksNewMedia, a technology consulting and digital publishing firm providing effective and relevant solutions to individuals and businesses looking to utilize all things on the interweb. Follow him on Twitter | about.me | Facebook | Google+

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I’m not a huge fan of the side scrolling games on the iPad or the iPhone because I generally miss the feel of pressing buttons on a controller.  With the flat screen you lose the ‘touch’ that you get when you’re mashing a button on a video game controller.  However, with this game I found the controls to be very easy to use.

Position of the buttons on the screen

The only struggles I had in this area were with the combo moves – when you move to one side, press green triangle, you jump – then if you hit the circle or x you punch or kick.  Sometimes I would be pressing in between those ‘buttons’ and not get the desired results.

Other than that, the controls are natural and they don’t get in the way of viewing the cartoon style graphics.

Growing up as a kid, I was a Bruce Lee fan and the main character in this game looks like a cartoon characterization which I assume is intentional.  Also, if there is a story that goes along with the game, I missed it somewhere along the way but it didn’t detract from the game play.

Playing the Game

For the most part, you fight.  And sometimes – you fight and fight until your fingers get tired and you just stop.  You select progressively more difficult levels and face a couple of bosses.

2 of the levels in the game are never ending levels that allow you to accumulate:

• Coins, which allow you to purchase bonuses (“power ups”) that affect your Attack and Defense Levels.
• Experience, which allows you to level up which also seems to affect attack and defense.

During each level you fight a limited set of enemies and after the last one dies, the level ends and the next level unlocks.  While fighting, you accumulate energy (for lack of a better term ) and when that energy is full you get to unleash a “Deadly Attack” – even from the start of the game the deadly attack is pretty powerful and can knock down multiple enemies.

Positives

The game play is simple but enjoyable.  The cartoon style, quality artwork makes the game visually appealing.  The flow of the game is straightforward and easy to understand.  The difficulty of the opponents is challenging enough to be fun and not too frustrating.

Negatives

TOO SHORT!

If I had paid for this (I got it while it was free) – I would be very frustrated. There are 27 levels and I was able to finish all of them in one sitting – granted it was a relatively long sitting but still – I don’t want to be able to finish a game in just one night.  If they add more levels, I’d be pretty happy with this game.

There’s an advertising bar at the bottom – I’ve seen some reviewers complain…didn’t bother me that much but if I had PAID for the game I would not want ads.

The only other knock might be that during most of the levels you can unlock the ability to purchase power ups – I couldn’t really tell what I needed to accomplish in order to unlock a few of them so some kind of help system would be nice.

KungFu Warrior - Start Screen

Overall Results

The game is fun and the artwork is good but it’s way too short.  I look forward to the next update if it contains more levels.  I would definitely play it again at that point.

Screen Shots

Power up screen

Action scene

Developer: Triniti Interactive Limited
Entertainment Value: 4/5
Ease of Use: 4/5
Likelihood of Replay: 5/5
Graphics and Sound: 4/5

Lance

If the computer breaks, the network won’t connect or a cell phone is acting funny, the family calls me. I’ve worked in and around technology development for nearly 20 years. I’m a tech, information and football fanatic with a short attention span who is always trying out new things and sharing information about them with others. In my “free” time, I enjoy drawing, photography, writing, watching anime and spending time with my family. Follow me on Twitter | Facebook

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Check out this latest visualization showing how far, and how big the pig smashing game actually is.

Infographic by: AYTM Market Research

James Hicks

James is the Founder and Chief Technologist of HicksNewMedia, a technology consulting and digital publishing firm providing effective and relevant solutions to individuals and businesses looking to utilize all things on the interweb. Follow him on Twitter | about.me | Facebook | Google+

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There’s an infographic for that…

[via csectioncomics.com]

James Hicks

James is the Founder and Chief Technologist of HicksNewMedia, a technology consulting and digital publishing firm providing effective and relevant solutions to individuals and businesses looking to utilize all things on the interweb. Follow him on Twitter | about.me | Facebook | Google+

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However, it’s also releasing shortly after Christmas, if some sources are to be believed, and if this is the case than Sony, a company already struggling to look professional after the huge loss of data during the hacking outage earlier this year, are going to look somewhat foolish.

People want handheld consoles for Christmas, for the simple reason that it’s the best possible time to receive one. You can sit around the living room playing the new Uncharted, browsing to Partypoker or watching films as people fawn over bath salts and new books, and once the Christmas period is over, you can enjoy a whole new level of fun during your morning commute. It’s also extremely adept at hooking up to your home wireless network or whatever’s going, and you can download games for it with little fuss.

But by releasing it on a later date (one source gave 31st December), they risk missing out on the Christmas rush, which, if the 3DS redesign rumours are to be believed, could be something of a financial loss for them, as every child, and gaming adult for that matter, will be clamouring for one if they release during the lead up to Christmas.

Then again, it’s unwise to suggest that Sony have no smart business minds working on the Vita project, so perhaps an early 2012 release is a sign of confidence, or that they want to make sure it’s up to scratch before it hits the marketplace. Time will tell, and with rumours of even an early November release date, the Vita pre-order crowd are in for a lot of confusion.

[image via]

James Hicks

James is the Founder and Chief Technologist of HicksNewMedia, a technology consulting and digital publishing firm providing effective and relevant solutions to individuals and businesses looking to utilize all things on the interweb. Follow him on Twitter | about.me | Facebook | Google+

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It looks like Sony is still not 100% out of the woods when it comes to the aftermath of the Hacking events that brought down the Sony Playstation Network for just over a month beginning on April 21st. As recompense for the outage Sony offered all Playstation Network members free Playstation Plus membership, a free choice of a downloadable game, and Qrocity access. Playstation Network members who opted for this had 30 days, from the time the store came back online, to collection on this Welcome Back Package. Originally, Playstation Network members had until July 3rd to claim their free items.

There was some outcry because Sony stated “through” July 3rd. Many users thought that this meant “July 3rd at 11:59 Pacific Time”. Well, it did not. Sony then extended this Welcome Back package until July 5th, at 9:00AM Pacific Time. This go around Sony specified the exact time so users could not claim they did not know what time it expired.

The latest issue stems from this extension. The Welcome Back package for the several countries in Europe and the Middle East has not expired as it was schedule to do so. This has been problematic for users who decided to purchase a Playstation Plus membership because they are not able to utilize their membership. Additionally, no new content is appearing within the Playstation Store.

There is no definite time as when a fix will be coming, but Sony states that they are aware of the issue and making it “a matter of priority”. Sony also states that users should see the fix rolled out in the “next few days”. The list of countries affected by this are the Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, and United Arab of Emirates. Sony just cannot seem to catch a break.

Wayne Dixon

I'm into anything technology related. I do some HTML/CSS/PHP development. I like to follow things that most people would find annoying or not worthwhile. I follow Apple, Microsoft, Google, The Cloud, cell phones and even programming. By Day I'm a Systems Administrator for a Library, which has it's own set of issues. Follow me on Twitter.

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Check out the video below showing some of the extensive possibilities of the game console which is scheduled to hit store shelves next year.

Me, being a bits-and-bytes technology guy  focused on the fact that IBM will be providing the micropocessors underneath the hood of the console.

The relationship between IBM and Nintendo dates to May 1999, when IBM was selected to design and manufacture the central microprocessor for the Nintendo GameCube system. Since 2006, IBM has shipped more than 90 million chips for Nintendo Wii systems.

“IBM has been a terrific partner for many years. We truly value IBM’s commitment to support Nintendo in delivering an entirely new kind of gaming and entertainment experience for consumers around the world,” said Genyo Takeda, Senior Managing Director, Integrated Research and Development, at Nintendo Co., Ltd.

James Hicks

James is the Founder and Chief Technologist of HicksNewMedia, a technology consulting and digital publishing firm providing effective and relevant solutions to individuals and businesses looking to utilize all things on the interweb. Follow him on Twitter | about.me | Facebook | Google+

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