Japanese Virtual Console Release Dates Announced

1Up has managed to get it’s hands on a list of Virtual Console games due to be released between the Japanese Wii launch on December 2nd and the end of the month.

Most of the are the same as the titles which have been released in the States, albeit with a few additions. The biggest shock in the list is the fact that the price of Zelda: A Link to the Past, SimCity and Fire Emblem have had their prices raised from 800 points to 900 points. This raises questions as to whether or not other popular titles will be slapped with a ‘premium’ tax when they’re released.

Hopefully a European version of that list will appear sometime during the next week. If not, then we’re probably safe to assume that many of the titles will have a global launch following the Japanese and European system launches.

Revenge of the Sixth Generation

The Xbox has already bowed out of the game and the GameCube is on it’s way out. However, the first casualty of sixth generation of console has sudden reappeared on the game release lists. Yep, that’s right, the Dreamcast is back with one last release.

The game in question is a rather nifty looking arcade shooter called Trigger Heart Exelica and it’s due for Japanese release in February 2007. Unfortunatly, there’s no US or European release confirmed yet and it’s unlikly that there will be one.

It’s nice to see that there’s life in the old system yet. There’s a gameplay video below the break.

A Catalogue of Wii Disasters

A few weeks back, I reported about how several people have managed to damage their televisions thanks to broken Wii-mote wrist straps. Since then, Engadget and Joystiq have reported on a number of similar cases.

Now someone’s put together a website cataloguing these incidents. It’s called Wii Have A Problem and incidents so far include a broken window, a broken laptop and even a broken PDA.

I’m slightly skeptical about just how many of these accidents are due to Nintendo’s rather weak looking wrist straps and how many are due to people either being silly or just not holding on to the remote properly. I will reserve my judgement until I have a Wii-mote in my own hands.

Apple Related News

I like when several related news stories come out at the same time. It makes for tidy blogging.

Apple Story the First

A few months back, Apple and sportswear company Nike got together to release a series of products called Nike+iPod. It’s a pretty good idea. It’s aimed at people who run with their iPod Nano (there’s no love for the full size iPod) and includes a bluetooth receiver which plugs into your Nano and a small dongle which fits into your Nike+ shoe. The dongle then sends information regarding your running speed, distance and so on to your Nano which then uploads it to the included software when you get home. The idea behind this is that it can help you improve your running pace and so on.

In a feature in the popular men’s health magazine, Men’s Health, Nike revealed a new add-on to this system called the Amp+. The Amp+ is a rather sexy looking bracelet which adds exactly what you need when your exercising to the Nike+iPod system; a bluetooth remote. It also includes an LED screen which will allow users to check their running stats on the fly.

Further features are to be confirmed. The bracelet is prices at $80 compared to the $30 of the Nike+iPod kit.

Despite the cost, this is the sort of thing that might actually get me to the gym occasionally. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no fan of Nike, a company known for using sweatshops, but it does seem like a good way to get that little extra bit of motivation when your running. Especially the run comparison aspect of the Nike+ software.

Apple Story the Second

Yesterday Apple released Security Update 2006-007 for Mac OS X. This is a critical update which fixes 22 potential security holes in OS X. It’s an 11MB download for PowerPC users or 23MB for Intel Mac users.

Apple Story the Third

One of the things that 2006 will be remembered for (by Mac fans at any rate) is the number of rumours about the development of an iPod phone. However, as The Unofficial Apple Blog and the Apple Gazette report, it’s not the first phone that Apple have developed. In the two links, they look at five Apple projects that were shelved either for the good of mankind or for the good of Apple’s profits during the lean years (ie pre-iMac/iPod).

Out of the devices they look at, my personal favourite is the PenLite, a sort of hybrid between the PowerBook and the Newton, but then I am waiting for the day that Apple eventually release the iNewton.

World of Warcraft: Before the Storm Release Announced

If you play WoW, then sometime in the past two weeks you should have noticed a small (but highly frustrating) program running in the background while you play. This programs, known as the Blizzard Background Downloader, is a shoddy little P2P app, based on BitTorrent technology. However, the important thing is that it’s been downloading (or not, as many have found), the WoW v2.0 patch.

This patch represents the first of two major overhauls in the World of Warcraft, the second of which is the Burning Crusade expansion, due to be released globally on January 16th.

The data downloaded to your system will finally be put to use on the 5th (if you’re on a US Server) or the 6th (EU Servers) of December.

The improvements included in this patch include the groundwork for the Burning Crusade, including expanding the in world map to include the Blood Elf and Draenei areas, revamping the PvP system, creating a new Looking for Group Interface and hopefully adding Blood Elf and Draenei NPCs to the existing cities. The current level cap may also be removed, something which has already happened in the Patch Test Realms. The current PTR patch notes are available here.

Just over a month after that, those who purchase the Burning Crusade, will be able to see the epic scope of Warcraft taken to a new level, with the opening of the Dark Portal and the Caverns of Time, the ability for players to create charcters from the two new races and brand new lore which sees player participate in the events of Warcraft III amongst other things.

[Source: WoW Insider]