Waiting for Wii Fit Plus

I'm not ashamed to admit that I bought Wii Fit as soon as it hit store shelves last year. I do a pretty darn good job of staying fit on my own, but I thought Nintendo's latest (and possibly greatest) attempt to conquer the so-called casuals might shake things up a bit. Well, guess what? It did. To say I've become a bit obsessed with the "push up and side plank," for instance, is an understatement--despite the fact that it practically reduces me to tears :)

As such, it probably shouldn't be all that surprising to hear that I'm going to buy Wii Fit Plus as soon as it hits store shelves--on Oct. 4--too. The main reason I'm interested in this budget-priced--Nintendo's selling it for just $19.99--release is that it'll allow me to create circuits that include all of my favorite exercises. The fact that Nintendo has added a slew--15, to be exact--of new mini-games doesn't hurt, either.

Anyway, the reason I'm going on and on about all of this is that Wootini over at GayGamer.net recently got to spend some quality time with the title and he seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. "[Wii Fit Plus] really expands upon the first game, and has found some interesting new ways to use the Balance Board in mini-games," he writes. "It's not an entirely new game, but if you've already got a Balance Board, at $20, it's looking like a decent buy."

Orioto's deliciously deviant video game art

Remember how I said I used to want to be an artist--and be the next Shigeru Miyamoto? Well, Paris-based artist Mikaël Aguirre (aka Orioto) must have felt the same way as a child. The difference, of course, is that Aguirre (who is gay, by the way--yippee!) actually followed his dreams while I, well, write about them :)

If you've never come across Orioto's art, may I suggest you make your way over to his deviantART page pronto? After that, head to NeoGAF to learn more about him (and interact with him, if you'd like). Another worthwhile destination: BeefJack.com, which recently posted an in-depth interview with this multifaceted and multi-talented man.

What Scribblenauts' 'sambo situation' says about racism in the U.S.

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past week, you've heard that one of the 20,000 or so words included in Scribblenauts' extensive dictionary is "sambo"--and that when a player uses said word in the critically acclaimed DS game a watermelon-like object appears on screen.

Many writers have waxed poetic about this situation since it first came to light, but few (if any) have addressed it like author, critic and designer Ian Bogost did in an article posted on Gamasutra.com yesterday.

You might not agree with everything the co-founder of Persuasive Games has to say (I can't say I do), but it's well worth a read regardless. Oh, and make sure you read the comments that follow the article, too--they're just as enlightening as Bogost's conclusions, if not more so.

How to make it in the back door (of the games industry)

I dreamed of being a lot of things when I was a kid--an artist, a criminologist, a veterinarian--but none of those professions excited me more than the one that appeared in my dreams shortly after I played Super Mario Bros. for the first time.

Yep, like millions of other kids who came of age in the 1980s, I wanted to make video games when I grew up. I actually held onto that dream until my freshman year in college--when it was shattered just a week into my first programming class.

Anyway, if you're anything like the old me (the me that existed before I gave up on being the next Shigeru Miyamoto), you should head on over to GayGamer.net to watch videos of the PAX 2009 panel, "How to Make it in the Back Door: A Rainbow Colored Perspective of the Game Industry."

The panel featured a number of gay folk in the games industry, including Chris Shroyer, a producer at n-Space, Matt Marquess, a PR associate at SparkPR, and Helen McWilliams, a producer at Harmonix.

In the clips, the trio talk about what it's like to be "non-standard" in the games industry and whether or not it's a hindrance or an asset. They also talk about how they made it into the industry and how others can follow in their footsteps.

Exploring Endless Ocean 2

I'm sure this sounds strange to some of you, but Endless Ocean 2 is one of my most-anticipated games for 2010. The original, released in early 2008, is one of my favorite Wii games, and all signs point to the sequel besting its predecessor in every way.

Hey, don't take my word for it--even the editors at Wikipedia think Arika's second trip to the "endless ocean" will be more spectacular than its first:

"Endless Ocean 2 features improved graphics and larger explorable areas than the previous game. In contrast to Endless Ocean, which featured a single location, Endless Ocean 2 allows players to travel to six different diving spots around the globe, including new polar and river locations. The plot of the game involves a woman named Oceana and her search for an artifact called the Dragon Stone, but players will be able to ignore it or follow it at their leisure.

"The ability to dive with a dolphin as a companion returns from the first game, and players will now also be able to ride them to quickly move through the water. Players can also sell salvaged treasure for money that can be used to buy items to decorate reefs and aquariums. Potentially dangerous creatures such as sharks and crocodiles will now illicit a warning for players and may even attack them; players will be able to drive them off using a new tranquilizer-like tool called the Pulsar, which calms them down.

"The game features online co-operative multiplayer that allows communication using the Wii Speak peripheral. As with the first game, players will also be able to take pictures during their dives, which they can now save to an SD card.^"

For a glimpse of the Japanese version of Endless Ocean 2 in action, head over to the always-fabulous WiiFolder.com and watch a series of gameplay videos that have been posted by cutie patootie Josh Thomas.