Nintendo Wii Games Blog

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort’s defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry finds himself more and more drawn to Ginny, but so is Dean Thomas. And Lavender Brown has decided that Ron is the one for her, only she hadn’t counted on Romilda Vane’s chocolates! And then there’s Hermione, simmering with jealously but determined not to show her feelings. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.
In the game, players will return to Hogwarts to help Harry survive a fraught sixth year. They will also have a chance to engage in exciting wizard duels, mix and brew magical ingredients in Potions class and take to the air to lead the Gryffindor Quidditch team to victory. Players may even get sidetracked by Ron’s romantic entanglements as they journey towards a dramatic climax and discover the identity of the Half-Blood Prince.

Based on the 2009 summer movie blockbuster of the same name, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince transports fans both old and new to the beloved and action-filled video game universe of Harry Potter. In this most recent adventure players return to the famous Hogwarts school for wizards, as well as other surrounding parts of the wizarding world, to help Harry survive a difficult and danger filled sixth year. Duel against friend and foe. View larger. Join forces with Dumbledore. View larger. Compete in Quidditch matches. View larger. The Story In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince the Video Game, Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was assumed to be. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort’s defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different, but equally unavoidable adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry finds himself more and more drawn to Ginny, but so is Dean Thomas. And Lavender Brown has decided that Ron is the one for her, only she hadn’t counted on Romilda Vane’s chocolates. And then there’s Hermione, simmering with jealously, but determined not to show her feelings. Yet as romance blossoms throughout Hogwarts, one student remains aloof. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again. Gameplay Like earlier video game releases in the Harry Potter franchise, the action in Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince the Video Game revolves around the exploration of Hogwarts and the action that results from what you uncover. The game features both engrossing single player and local multiplayer modes, as well as additional unique play features. During their adventures, players will have a chance to engage in exciting wizard duels, mix and brew magical ingredients in potions class and take to the air to lead the Gryffindor Quidditch team to victory. Players may even get sidetracked by Ron’s romantic entanglements as they journey towards a dramatic climax and discover the identity of the Half-Blood Prince. Key Features Relive the action of the movie…from the Hogwarts Express, to the dramatic revelation of the Half-Blood Prince. Feel the thrill of Quidditch as the Wii Remote and Nunchuck become your broomstick and you speed through the stadium. Compete for Gryffindor for the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup: Take on Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin in the most exciting wizarding sport. Defeat the Dark Forces as you use the Wii Remote as your wand to duel your way through the story of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Perfect your potion-mixing skills using the Wii Remote to stir, shake and pour potions from the Half-Blood Prince’s recipes. Explore Hogwarts at night, taking on nighttime missions while the castle sleeps. When you get stuck, call on Nearly Headless Nick for clues and tips to help you complete your challenges. See more of the wizarding world as you explore new magical places scattered throughout the game. Travel with Dumbledore to piece together Voldermort’s past, and sneak around Hogwarts to discover Malfoy’s secrets. 2-player local multiplayer support.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars enjoyable for my daughter
I bought this game for my 9yr old daughter and she loves battling Bellatrix and the death eaters in dueling matches. She also enjoys making potions and Quidditch. But I do find the game a little boring when playing by myself. But when we take turns it’s a blast to play.

5 Stars My grandson loves it!
I purchased this for my grandson’s birthday (age 11), after consulting with his dad about what he already had, wanted, or was allowed to have. Harry Potter was at the top of the list. He has a Wii, and does video games more with the TV than the computer.

4 Stars Could be Better but not too bad for younger kids
My 9 year-old little brother saw the commercial for this game and really wanted it. I bought it for him for his birthday despite the bad reviews and he loved it. This was our first HP game so we can’t really compare it to other HP games. We loved the potions and the dueling. Quidditch was not as good as expected. Like what one of the other reviewers said, basically Harry Potter flies by himself. Also as another person pointed out, we finished the whole story mode in one day which was sort of lame but at least we still had to find all the crests and stuff.

Pros:

-Exploring Hogwarts

-Potions

-Dueling

-Good for little HP obsessed kids lol

Cons or improvements I wish to see:

-I wish it was more like sims…in other words, more interaction. I wish HP could like sit on the seats, talk to more people and stuff.

-The Story mode needs to be LONGER and more detailed. I did find the mis-quotes and other story mistakes rather annoying. Like sometimes HP will say what Ron said in the movie. Also I wish I could like sit down in the grand hall and dig into all the yummy food and stuff: more interaction.

-More Spells and charms

I gave it a good rating because my brother loved it

4 Stars Interactive Games
Great fun to mix potions, cast spells, fly around the Quidish Field!

If you love Harry and have Wii this game beats all the computer games by a mile! Great fun!Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

4 Stars Moderately Difficult and Fun
Unlike the last two Harry Potter games, this one is a little bit easier to play and enjoy. We are doing it on a Wii system for the first time and enjoying the large screen aspect of it. Wonder if the computer game is the same and might buy one of them after we conquer this.

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Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 Wii Motion Plus Bundle

Feel the drama of playing professional tournament golf like never before with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10. For the first time in the history of Electronic Arts’ much lauded golf simulation franchise, players can take aim at capturing the US Open Championship on the ever-challenging Bethpage Black. Playing in front of huge galleries and hearing crowd reactions from nearby holes, take your game to the next level when it matters most as you try to hold off a charging Tiger Woods and other PGA Tour Pros. Whether you’re fighting the course, the crowd, dynamic weather conditions, or the field, feel the drama on every swing with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10. Key Features: Wii MotionPlus Control Accessory Included - Elevate your game with an enhanced, true-to-life golf swing that features precise draw-fade capabilities and authentic sports motion which mirrors your every move. Win the US Open Championship - For the first time ever, feel the drama of playing in the US Open, one of golf’s biggest—and toughest—tournaments of the year. Known for its extremely challenging playing conditions, Bethpage Black tests even the best golfers. Precision Putting - Check out precision putting that will change the way you play the game. Using a single long range putter, the combination of backswing length and the tempo of your downswing determines the distance your ball will travel. Dynamic Weather Conditions - Powered by the Wii Forecast Channel and the Weather Channel, real-time weather now has a major effect on gameplay conditions. If it’s raining in Pontre Vedra Beach, Fl, then you too can face the challenge of a rain-soaked TPC Sawgrass. Enhanced Draw-Fade - Experience heightened accuracy and control with the Wii MotionPlus as it reads how you’re rotated in 3D space when you swing the ball. A slight rotation will result in a slight draw or fade as will a more extreme rotation end up in a greater draw or fade. All-New Disc Golf - Trade your clubs for discs in a fun, new game mode based on the family-fun sport of Disc Golf. Play from custom tee locations on all 27 courses in the game. Multiplayer Support - Online and local support of 2-4 players. Screenshots: Real weather conditions. View larger. Practice strokes. View larger. Tournament challenges. View larger. Disc mini-game. View larger.

User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars Great for the videogame career-ist
Much prefer the WiiSports Resort golf and frisbee.

TW is too much work.

If you want to play golf with a few buds once in awhile go with WSR. If you want a second career or full-time hobby go with TW.

4 Stars Good job EA
Very good golf game, very realist good game play, except graphic little under PS3&Co. 4/5 but the gameplay is better than the others, good job Nintendo and EASPORTS.

3 Stars Too many flaws
After buying, and eventually breaking and throwing away 09 I swore, yet again, never again EA… you hear me, never.

Well, here we are again. 2010 fixes a lot of problem that plagued 09. The putting is much better, but still as inconsistent as you would expect from EA. Using the precision putting is probably as close as anyone has come yet, however, it isn’t uncommon for the back swing to be at 50%, the forward swing to be at 50%, but oh no… you only hit it 35%. Yes I’m doing it right. I usually 1 putt from anywhere on the green. This tends to happen when you need to make the put for par or something. Generally, when you need it, EA is against you all the way.

You can add fade or draw by “grabbing’ the target zone by holding down the B button and moving the zone left or right. The HUGE problem here is that if you take a practice swing… the target zone resets itself, so you need to go back and put back where you want it. Really? Was this too hard for EA?

You can also change your stance by holding the B button and pushing left or right on the “D” pad. However, if you take a practice swing, this also resets. Not only that, but if you move to a forward stance by pushing left on the D pad, your going to hit the ball higher and with less distance. This change in distance isn’t reflected in the target zone. That is, the zone doesn’t move as your stance changes. So if you have a club that would hit the ball, say, 200 yards, and you max out your forward stance, your now only going to hit it say, 175 yards. The problem here is that your target zone still says 200 yards. Good luck guessing where that’s going. Again… was this too hard for EA?

Moving around the menus and Pro Shop is much harder than it really needs to be. Instead of making use of the perfectly good D pad, you’re forced to aim at little arrows and hit the A button. Trust me, it’s worse than it sounds, and it won’t take long before you’re cursing EA for acting like… well… EA.

One little part of stupidity that just confuses me is in the Pro Shop. A level 2 driver for example will have 1 power bonus. A level 4 driver will have… that’s right… 1 power bonus. Apparently the only difference is the price. I mean really EA, why even bother? Don’t you ever feel embarrassed about this kind of half-assed crap plaguing virtually everything you do?

Also with the Pro Shop, there’s no way sort the items to see what’s new as things become available. Does EA think I have nothing better to do when I’m playing this game than go through every single item category every single time there might be something new? And where is the sort by abilities option (sort by power, putting, etc.)? That’s right… it’s not there.

If you think I’m just nit-picking about this, here’s a great example. I got offered a sponsorship from G3. They’ll pay me $250 per item. Great I thought, and off I went to the Pro Shop. (By the way EA, the sponsor list should be in the Pro Shop). Click shirts, push 1 to sort, go to “Brand” and push the right arrow 28X looking for G3, (You didn’t think they were alphabetical did you? Where’s the fun in that?), push + button, “No Items Found”, push - button, push - button, click pants, push 1 to sort, go to “Brand” and push the left arrow 5X, (that’s better), push + button, “No Items Found”, push - button, push - button, click shoes,… you get the idea. There are 13 categories, so follow the listed step for all of them. There’s nothing here? Did I miss something? I go online and I’m able to find that G3 only has a couple of shirts in the whole game, and they’re only for men. Awesome… I have a female golfer. I sure am glad I can’t sort by new items, just think of all the fun I would have missed.

When I think how good Tiger Woods 05 was for the X-Box, it boggles the mind how EA consistently destroys once great games. Don’t get me wrong here. This is a good game once you’re playing. But EA has done everything they could to make setting up the game, the Pro Shop and editing your golfer as miserable an experience as possible

I think I can safely say this was EA’s last chance for me. And while I haven’t thrown this one away yet, there have been close calls.

Tiger Woods 09 was really just a beta version for this, and this is just a beta version for 2011. When, and if, EA ever gets one right again, I’ll think about trying it. Until then, I’m glad I still have my X-Box.

3 Stars Too Easy
This game has some sort of programming which makes it adjust to your skill level. When playing tournaments, if you shhot 80 on the first round then all the pros will shoot mid 70’s or even 80 on the second round, even though they shot low to mid 60’s on first round. haven’t hooked up to internet, yet. May be better playing against pros in live weather conditions and on line. Just so-so of a golf game.

4 Stars Loads of Fun!
I am having a blast with the new Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 for the Wii. The new controller option makes it almost as challenging as hitting the links for real. Well worth the investment!

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Mario Kart Racing Wheel for Wii (2pcs Bundle)

The wheels make the game more fun to play and easier to play for new or young players.

(This is a 3rd party’s product, NOT from Nintendo)

(Wii remote is not included)

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Great deal!!!
Cheap but great quality!!! stop looking for other wii wheel, this is the best price and you get two wheels!!!

Feals and looks like the original nintendo’s wheel.

5 Stars As good as the wheel that comes with Mario Kart
We have 3 of these wheels and the one that came with Mario Kart. The only difference is the wii emblem on the back of the original wheel. Seriously I think there must be a copyright infringement these wheels are so alike. If you like the wheel that came with Mario Kart these are perfect additions for extra racers.

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Metroid Prime Trilogy Collector’s Edition

All three games in the trilogy have been crafted into one unbelievable package, with a newly implemented exclusive title menu with direct access to any of the three titles. Not only that, but players can also earn awards by collecting tokens through their progress across the trilogy, making for an ideal award system. Both Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes games have been updated with the refined control system of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Moving is done with the Control Stick and the Nunchuck controller, while the Wii Remote controller controls the Arm Cannon’s crosshairs, allowing the player to smoothly and more accurately aim by pointing at the screen. The camera will move where the player points, making for more intuitive control, and allowing players to look around and attack while moving. Three different sensitivity settings allow everyone from beginners to FPS veterans to find a response speed to their liking. In addition to the new control, the Nintendo GameCube games have new features and improvements such as 16×9 wide-screen presentation, and improved HUD system to accommodate the new pointer control, some graphic improvements, and newly added new difficulty levels.Metroid Prime 3: Corruption set a new standard for first-person motion controls in video games. Now it’s bringing those controls to the rest of the celebrated series, allowing players to experience the entire Metroid Prime story arc with the peerless precision of the Wii Remote. Nintendo announces Metroid Prime Trilogy, a new premium three-game collection for the Wii console that bundles all three landmark Metroid Prime games onto one disc and revamps the first two installments with intuitive Wii Remote controls, wide-screen presentation, and other enhancements.

Updated HUD View larger.

Refined Control Scheme View larger.

Upgraded Graphics View larger.

The Ultimate Metroid Prime Experience Metroid Prime fans, prepare to be happy–the celebrated series from Retro Studios has gotten a deluxe treatment on the Wii console. All three games in the trilogy have been crafted into one package, with a newly implemented exclusive title menu with direct access to any of the three titles. Not only that, but players can also earn awards by collecting tokens through their progress across the trilogy, making for an ideal award system. Key Game Features: Three incredible games from the Metroid Prime universe in one package Metroid Prime 1 and 2 have a new refined control system to match Metroid Prime 3 Premium tin case Collectable tokens are awarded while progressing through the trilogy Metroid Prime 1 and 2 have new features and improvements such as 16×9 wide-screen presentation, and improved HUD system to accommodate the new pointer control, some graphic improvements, and newly added new difficulty levels. Upgraded to a Refined Control System Both Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes games have been updated with the refined control system of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Moving is done with the Control Stick and the Nunchuk™ controller, while the Wii Remote™ controller controls the Arm Cannon’s crosshairs, allowing the player to smoothly and more accurately aim by pointing at the screen. The camera will move where the player points, making for more intuitive control, and allowing players to look around and attack while moving. Three different sensitivity settings allow everyone from beginners to FPS veterans to find a response speed to their liking. In addition to the new control, the Nintendo GameCube games have new features in the Wii versions and improvements such as 16×9 wide-screen presentation, improved HUD system to accommodate the new pointer control, some graphic improvements, and newly added new difficulty levels.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Same as Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Double layered disk)
I havent yet played this game but take note that this is Nintendos second Double layered disk. This meaning that if the lens is even slightly dirty, the Wii will not read the disk. If this problem occurs there is an official Wii lens cleaning kit for sale. I will try to post an actual gameplay review once my kit comes in.Wii Lens Cleaning Kit

4 Stars Great set of games, excellent value
Out of the 3 prime games, I had previously only played the first one back on the cube, still fun to play back through this game with the wii controls and excellent value to get the other 2 games as well.

5 Stars METROID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do I really have to say it?

(Yes it is worth it simply to play Metroid Prime 1 and 2 with the Wii controls.)

5 Stars Supreme quality…… awesome redone version!!!
Superb….. simply superb….

I won’t take away from the other great reviews and waste your time, I’ll just say this is a MUST HAVE….

Simply a dream…. get your copy today!!!

5 Stars Simply Amazing .
Corralling all three Metroid Prime games on to one disc and gifting the GameCube games with new Wii controls feels like an award for outstanding achievement rather than an attempt to improve upon the originals. For as slick as the re-engineered pointer-based shooting system is, it’s not the series’ most significant accomplishment.

Trust Nintendo to give the green light to such a rethink of the firstperson shooter. Here, AI is functional and multiplayer an afterthought (Prime 2’s fourplayer mode could be generously described as throwaway), while protagonist Samus Aran’s arm-mounted cannon is more a means of progression than weapon.

After all, each new upgrade only reaffirms Metroid’s status as the thinking man’s shooter, with missiles opening previously impenetrable doors, bombs clearing blockages, and so on. Even the gargantuan bosses require equal parts thought and firepower. But the true obstacle in Metroid isn’t the alien fauna, it’s the vast and daunting terrain.

In no other shooter does the environment play such an integral role as it does in the Prime series, a fact frequently underlined by Samus’ most significant means of interacting with her surroundings: her visor. Hassle-free dips into the menu switch to scan mode, revealing depth and detail untouched by other firstperson action games. The textures may have aged, albeit with some grace, but in terms of depth the Metroid Prime games still deliver supremely engaging experiences.

Inevitably, quality wavers across the series, peaking with the original instalment, its follow-ups favouring graphical flourishes over design innovation: for every clever new gadget there is a helmet-full of air-rippling energy blasts and an increasingly reflective visor. Even the advancements made possible by the Wii Remote feel like a necessary evolution rather than genuine innovation.

Regardless, the gathering together of the inspired original and its two accomplished sequels at such an affordable price is only good news for Wii owners. The new control system may ultimately be an upgrade Samus Aran never really needed, but this is still the best - and most logical - Wii reissue from Nintendo to date.

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Walk It Out

Experience a revolutionary and unique workout where walking to the beat of 120 music track great music unlocks an exciting in-game world. Keep movin¿ to the beat of all your favorite in-game tracks as you extend your workout in bonus minigames. Compatible with the Wii Balance Board and the Wii DanceDanceRevolution Controller, Walk It Out will have you groovin¿ your way to a healthier you!

User Ratings and Reviews

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