mii posts(Subscribe to this feed)

Remember when we thought every Wii game was going to let you play as your Mii? And then remember when that didn't happen and the inclusion of Miis into every third-party game was a Big Deal? This news about Tony Hawk Ride makes us nostalgic for both of those times.

Developer Buzz Monkey and Activision have received the mysteriously elusive permission from Nintendo to include Mii support, allowing users not only to play as their own Miis, but as included Mii likenesses of the pro skaters featured in the game. So if the in-game Tony Hawk avatar doesn't have a big enough head for you, there's a built-in solution.

In addition to the extra Mii features, Tony Hawk Ride on the Wii will include two exclusive levels. Usually, motion controls are enough of an exclusive feature for a game's Wii version, but this time, of course, that isn't the case, and it looks like Activision has found interesting ways to compensate. Enjoy some footage from the Wii game after the break.

While both Guitar Hero World Tour and 5 included Mii modes, Xbox Avatar support was new for the latest GH game. We've contacted Activision to determine whether Avatars will find their way into Ride as well.

Wii owners: don't feel left out by the Xbox Guitar Hero 5's support of Avatars! You'll also be able to make your big-eyed simulacra windmill their (nonexistent) arms like lil' Pete Townshends (even as lil' Pete Townshends, now that we think about it). An Activision rep confirmed to Eurogamer that Mii support would be present in GH5.

Of course, the exact same "Mii Freestyle" mode was already present in the Wii version of Guitar Hero World Tour, so its inclusion in Guitar Hero 5 is less groundbreaking than the Avatar support -- if only because that particular ground has already been broken in the Wii games. Unfortunately for Quincys about to rock, there are "no plans to have Home Avatars for the PS3 version."

As the New Year approaches and some of you are making your resolutions, it's a natural time to reflect on who you are and who you would like to be. Two years ago when I brought home my Wii and was sculpting a likeness of myself in Mii form, I was doing just that sort of reflecting.

Recently, Sony opened up their new Playstation Home service to public beta and Microsoft unrolled the New Xbox Experience. With these additions, it has become possible to create an effigy of ourselves across each platform, so I'd like to give you my impressions of my own three representations. I can tell you right now, a couple of these ain't pretty.

While Nintendo of America has settled on Personal Trainer: (Activity) for DS training games, and Japan takes a more freeform approach (the only constant is really, really long names), Nintendo of Europe's approach for training game titles (with the odd exception of Maths Training) is now (Title): (Question about title activity?) -- as in Cooking Guide: Can't decide what to eat? and Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How old is your brain?

The latest training game to use this naming convention is Walk with me! Do you know your walking routine?, which we know as Personal Trainer: Walking, the walking trainer that brings Miis to the DS for the first time, and also includes two wireless pedometer accessories. That accessory is known as the Activity Meter for the PAL release. Data collected by the device can be sent to Nintendo via Wi-Fi for use on leaderboards and a total worldwide step count of all users. The press release says that the data is transferred to your DS via infrared signal, but we're a bit skeptical since the DS doesn't have an IR port.

Nintendo of Europe will launch Walk with me! on February 20. You can see English screens in an obtrusive Flash interface at Nintendo's Walk with me page.


[Thanks, RICANJO!]

Mii making was great fun in the early days of the Wii. Somehow, I found myself engrossed in the process of creating big-headed caricatures of me, my family, celebrities, and such. My interest was renewed for a while with the addition of the Check Mii Out Channel.

But I got over my Mii mania, mostly. I have a stable of go-to Miis for use in games that support them, and that's it. I rarely look at the parade or the Check Mii Out Channel anymore. I'm glad I have the Miis I have, but I don't really feel like putting time into Mii creation for fun anymore. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as the point is to make avatars, and I've done that and now I have avatars.

What about you? Have you continued honing your Mii-making craft? Have you become an artisan working in the medium of fake cartoon heads?

Titled Big League Sports, Activision's new game is taking inspiration from the many other minigame compilations available on the console. Due for release in North America this holiday season, the new game emphasizes "a singular focus on putting players in the most thrilling situations while competing in their favorite sports." The "favorite sports" it speaks of? Tennis, basketball, football (American style), soccer, lacrosse and hockey, with each sport featuring its own "hit the shot and the buzzer" moment, although we're not sure exactly what that means (some kind of tension mechanic?).

The final version of the game will feature 22 events across six different sports and various game modes, including single game, marathon, and tournament. There's also going to be a character creation mode which, you guessed it, means there is a strong chance the game will have Mii support. Look for Big League Sports this holiday season.

If you were just itching to see someone else's Mii in a DS screenshot of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time, then you've come to the right place. Along with some other excellent new shots, we have that very thing in the gallery below. Like the way the game looks? Your lucky day rolls on, because we heard a little rumor that there may be some wallpapers available on the official site by the end of the week.

The DS/Wii release Echoes of Time is slated for January in Japan, and, unofficially, some time that isn't soon enough for the rest of the world.

We spent our limited Animal Crossing: City Folk time at E3 messing with the new Mii masks, reducing an effigy of a normally jovial executive to a blubbering mess. Should you want to follow our example, it's quite easy to do! And just a little bit off-putting, as this video of the new salon shows.

You just go to the salon, choose the Mii you'd like the mask to resemble, and then ... a giant machine, buzzing and arcing with electricity, clamps down over you and reshapes your head! If you think about it like that, it's a bit weird that the Mii mask blinks and displays emotions. But, then again, you have to earn each emotional display by watching stand-up comedy, so maybe we're already in Weird City.

By now, you've no doubt heard: Nintendo is rolling out Club Nintendo in the U.S. by the end of 2008. Wahey! Yeah, we know that Japan (generally speaking) gets the most excellent items when compared to elsewhere, but listen here, bub: it's free stuff. We're not about to complain, and nor should you (if you want to feel sorry for somebody, Australia's Club Nintendo scheme has gone AWOL, and check out South Africa's piss-poor Stars Catalogue).

Anyway, as these are happy times for North Americans, we thought we'd reflect on some of the bestest Club Nintendo gifts and trinkets from both Japan and Europe to date -- some of which could end up in the U.S.! Hit the gray button to start DS Fanboy's whirlwind Club Nintendo Tour of Wonders!

Oh Rare. Do you honestly expect us to believe this? Nonetheless, it's their story and they're sticking to it.

The fine folks behind that Banjo & Kazooie business have commented that Avatars are not an attempt to copy the lovable Miis from Nintendo. Head of art, Lee Musgrave, says "It was an idea we had, even before Miis were part of the gaming scene, of putting these characters that you have an affinity with, not necessarily as part of the Xbox dash, but somewhere in the Xbox that you would play multiple games with, that you would have multiple experiences with that same character."

Musgrave further added that "Microsoft did not turn up one day in a speeding car and say, 'They've got Miis - do something!' It wasn't like that at all; it was something that fell into place over a period of time." But was that period of time really the year the Xbox 360 was on the market before Wii's arrival? We're not sure we're willing to swallow the red pill on that one.

Okay, first of all, there are new screens for the upcoming WiiWare title. Hit them up in our gallery below, then come back here, because we're got some things we need to discuss.

Back? Good. Okay, to clarify: Bomberman Blast, the WiiWare title for download and not the retail disc, will feature Mii support and 8-person online multiplayer (up to four players can go online on the same Wii) and is officially on its way to North America. We know we told you something else before regarding the Mii stuff, but the press release that literally just landed into our inbox tells another story. So expect this to be one content-rich download.

And on top of those details, Hudson also let us know that they'll be offering online tournaments. In fact, one will even coincide with the release of the game (which is due out in Japan this fall)!


[Via press release]

[Via Wii Fanboy]

Vicarious Visions has confirmed that Guitar Hero: World Tour on the Wii will have not only all of the content found in the other versions, including DLC, but it will also have an exclusive "Mii Freestyle" mode, which we first heard about yesterday. But it goes beyond just having Miis in the normal Guitar Hero game.

Mii Freestyle mode is actually an exclusive game mode in which players can create music on the fly using Guitar Hero guitars and drums -- or the Wiimote and Nunchuk as air drums, Wii Music-style, if they want to for some reason. The instruments lay down predetermined notes or sequences onto the familiar Guitar Hero note chart according to the style of music chosen. It's sort of a jamming version of the Music Studio found in the game. Vicarious Visions' David Nathanielsz calls the mode "a helpful bridge between the core game and the Music Studio in Guitar Hero: World Tour for Wii owners."

The Wii World Tour, then, has all of the features of the other versions, plus a new exclusive mode. The only thing the other systems have on it now is graphics, which matter very little in a music game. Barring accidental monaural sound output or something, the Wii version will now be the superior version. Take that, Rock Band!

The Wii version of upcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour just got a bit more unique. The title will apparently include Mii support, allowing those of you who don't want to go through the pain of modeling yourself in the custom character creator to still get your likeness into the game. No other details about the Mii implementation are available right now, sadly, but we're sure they'll shed some light on it soon enough.

For those of you that don't get the joke in the image above, be sure to head past the break for a brief explanation.