Wii Rock: Guitar Hero III Tournament in Burnaby

Last year I was invited to cover the first ever Wii-lympics, a public competition of gamers playing Wii Sports.

The Wii-lympics was a crazy couple of days of Wii golf, tennis, bowling, and boxing. The event, held on a makeshift stage in the food court at Burnaby's Crystal Mall, was raucous with activity.

The Simon Fraser University student association that produced the event, SFU YOURS, is holding another competition this Saturday, March 15.

This year, though, gamers will compete in a Guitar Hero III tournament on the Wii gaming system.

Prizes for this competition are impressive, too. First place takes $500 cash, second gets $300, and third place gets $100. There are also two performance awards, for Best Stage Presence and Best Star Outfit, each of which net a $50 gift certificate.

On top of all that, every contestent will be entered in a draw to win airfare to Las Vegas.

The entry fee for your two-person team is $18 ($15 for members of the YOURS association).

Full details and the entry form are available at the event's Web site.

So if you are in the Greater Vancouver Area, and you can shred on Guitar Hero, drop by the Crystal Mall this Saturday to strut your stuff.

Rockstar pledges quick 'Bully' fix

Bully, the video game in which players take on the role of a student in a boarding school, made a nice splash when it was released for the PS2 in 2006.

But the latest version of the game - which was developed by Rockstar Vancouver in, well, Vancouver - has been making news because of a plethora of bugs.

Bully: Scholarship Edition essentially takes the PS2 game and ports it to the Wii and the Xbox 360, but the Xbox 360 title has been routinely crashing for many users.

In a release to media, Darlan Monterisi Rockstar Games PR spokesperson had this to say:

We are very aware of the problems some people have been experiencing with the Xbox 360 version of Bully: Scholarship Edition and have been doing everything within our powers to resolve these issues as quickly as possible. We will be releasing a title update through Xbox Live within the next week that we are confident will rectify the problem. We apologize wholeheartedly for the inconvenience that this matter has caused some owners of the game.

Other gamers have come across a statement from none other than Rockstar big boss Sam Hauser:

We have just become aware of the issues people are having with Bully Scholarship Edition on Xbox 360. It appears that some older 360s are experiencing framerate issues, freezes and other problems. You have our word that we never experienced any of this in QA - in any of our offices or at Microsoft. I am horrified, and we are now working around the clock to rectify this situation. Thanks to Neo-Gaf for bringing this matter to our attention. We love our games and put a huge amount of energy and care into making them all that they can be. We would never shove anything out the door - we never have and never will. We apologise to everyone affected for the inconvenience. Respectfully, Sam Houser

So if you've had problems with your Xbox 360 version of Bully, stand by. A fix is coming soon.

Video game review: Super Mario Galaxy

The latest adventure for the Italian plumber with a soft spot for Princess Peach takes place in outer space. As you’d expect from the developers at Nintendo, the galaxies and planets you visit are wild and wacky. Using both the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, you’ll guide Mario from planet to planet in a search for star bits, power stars, and grand stars. You need the energy from these stars to chase after Bowser, who has - once again - kidnapped your beloved princess. Physics makes up a great deal of the innovation in this game. Gravity is something to consider when running and jumping, because when you fall off the edge of a planet, your demise comes about because of black holes. While this is by no means a true two-player game, a second person can help you out by picking up another Wii Remote and using it to collect star bits and fire them at enemies. Super Mario Galaxy is quirky and very playable - just what we expected. Rated everyone.

[originally published in the Georgia Straight]

Only Nintendo profiting from Wii: Suda 51

Courtesy of CVG by way of MCV, an interesting claim from Japanese game designer Suda 51 - otherwise known as Goichi Suda, the creator of the slick and bizarre Killer 7.

Suda claims that third-party games released for the Wii just haven't been selling. His new game, No More Heroes (pictured here), has already hit shelves in Japan, and is scheduled for release in North America by Ubisoft in mid-February.

In speaking with CVG, Suda said, "Whilst the sales weren't as high as I hoped, other titles for Wii aren't selling so well either. Only Nintendo titles are doing well. This isn't just because of the current situation in Japan, as this is happening outside Japan."

I - and others - have been suggesting this is a problem for the long-term success of the Wii. This year will be critical for Nintendo unless the company wants to continue operating in its own little Wii world.

The Queen: Wii addict

This is great.

As reported by London, England's celebrity tabloid The People (and mentioned at MCV), Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II is quite taken with the Wii.

The game console was a gift for Prince William from his girlfriend Kate Middleton, and when the Queen saw him playing it, she wanted in on the fun.

Said the People's source: "[William's] only difficulty now is prising it away from the Queen's clutches. She showed all the signs of becoming a Nintendo addict."

This woman is 81. Surely the envy of grandchildren everywhere.