Mass: We Pray is a video game parody that doesn't outright admit to making fun of the Wii, but for some reason, that makes it only more endearing. Because I know a generic cross Wiimote and Balance Board kneeler when I see one.

But while I may have laughed, I could have tolerated a few more HEADSHOTS. And I can't help but to admit, Wii Pray is the only third party developer opportunity to outsell the next Mario title. [We Pray Thanks Eric!]

The Price

$35, available now. Package includes charger and two compatible batteries.

The Verdict

As we said in the lead, the Charge Base IC (which stands for "inductive charging") is the best solution for charging Wiimotes we've seen to date, if you can stand its 2-controller limit.
Yes, the stand is a cacophony of various plastics and LED, but you'll quickly disregard aesthetics the first time you hold the Wiimote up to the cradle and it just sticks. Attached through magnetism, it will be charged without the need for plugs or ports, without the need of pulling out the little stopper from the Wii MotionPlus adapter, and without even the need of removing the silicone case. (Should you be a non-case user such as myself, you'll find the ridged rubber backs on the batteries quite comfortable.)

The stand even includes a USB charging port, should you need it, and the AC adapter has an outlet plug on the back, meaning you won't waste a power outlet to recharge your Wiimotes.

There's room for improvement—an indicator that signaled the level of charge would be very handy. I'm not really sure how long it takes to charge the batteries to full because, at the moment, the charger always just glows blue (UPDATE: It wasn't in the manual, but the charger does go green when it's done—the initial charge took so many hours that I just assumed it had to be full already). The magnet could feel stronger through the silicone sleeve. And obviously, you can buy a basic 4-Wiimote charger for the price of this 2-Wiimote charger. Though I have a feeling that Nyko will announced a 4-controller unit if this first model is successful.

But for the ultra-lazy among us, the Charge Base IC is pretty great.

Contact charging is easy and practical

Works with real Wiimotes and generics

There's simply not a better design we've seen

Through sleeve, magnet still works, but could feel stickier

Charging indicator doesn't indicate much

Written by me, directed and edited by Craig Rowin, makeup by Annamarie Tendler, starring Noah Plener, John Ward, Matt Fisher and myself, voiceover by Sam Reich.

Bundled with the upcoming Wii game Baby and Me (in Australia), this doll-mote uses the Wiimote's speaker to make the baby cry or laugh. Turn on the Wii Balance Board, and the simulation is taken to the next level, allowing you to burp the baby, rock the baby and teach "her" to walk. (Spoiler alert: the muscle-less, brain-less baby doll can never learn to walk.)

Personally, I could do without all the diaper changing, but I can't wait to score headshots in CoD with my new infant gun. [aussie-nintendo via GoNintendo via Kotaku]

Nintendo sold 5.75 million Wiis over the past six months, versus 10.1 million a year ago. Which is why Nintendo finally got around to cutting the price of the Wii—to move more units, even though that sliced into profits. (Interestingly, it shows Wii sales finally dipped below a million a month, if barely, and just how insanely profitable the Wii is for Nintendo.) If it makes Nintendo feel any better, the Xbox 360 is the only console that's actually seen growth this year, in the US, anyway, thanks to its own price cut.

So, um, next stop: Wiis in multiple colors. Hey, it's worked for Nintendo like a million times before. That, or you know, that Wii HD people are so fond of talking about. [WSJ

Of course, those pictures can't shared in order to protect they're source, and what's more, they're hearing that "Nintendo originally planned to bring the Netflix service to the Wii before the end of this year" but they're "also considering holding off on the Netflix service until they release their next generation Wii HD unit in early 2010." So, uh, just keeping your breath on that one. [Streaming Media via Engadget]

"While we don't have any concrete plans for what we'll be doing with hardware in the future, what I can say is that, my guess is that because we found this interface to be so interesting, I think it would be likely that we would try to make that same functionality perhaps more compact and perhaps even more cost-efficient."

And as for things like DVD playback without a homebrew hack? A glimmer of hope, though nothing definitive:

I think originally video-game systems were viewed as a toy, and they were something you played with…As time goes on, I think we're going to see how the system of the video-game console and this interactive interface is going to gradually bleed in to other elements of, say, home electronics and daily life.

Check out the full interview at: [Popular Mechanics via TechRadar]

Hand it to that guy, he does not deviate from the sales pitch after such a colossally embarrassing f—kup, even with his cohost laughing and, no doubt, a production crew trying to keep it together. And hats off to the director who switched over to the b-roll while they got the pitchman positioned perfectly in front of the TV to cover up the scar the Wiimote left.

Now, $329.90 for a standard Wii bundle and a doubled-up set of peripherals? That's a tragedy. Especially since they pretend it'd retail for $379.99.

Nintendo Wii Gaming System with Wii Sports and 15 Accessories [YouTube via Joystiq]

Mass Effect 2 Dated For January, Preorder Bonuses Abound
That armor looks pretty hot, though markedly similar to Iron Man when painted red.

Frankenreview: Brutal Legend

Tim Schafer Explains How To Play Brutal Legend
When a god speaks, I listen.

Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron Preview: I'm A Total Space Case

Assassin's Creed III? WWII? Sure, Why Not?

Only PC Dragon Age Has Baldur's Gate Camera
On a 50-inch plasma, I want to geek out with my overhead view.

The New York PSPgo Sign Is Smaller
Sony is so f'ing meta it's insane.

Girls, Slow Motion, Viral! (bikini-level NSFW)

What If Classic Games Had Achievements?
We would have never graduated grade school, that's what.

Perfect for your next Cosplay or Furry get-to-together, the mood cards will make the bushy tail wag about in pre-programmed ways. Alternatively, a Wii Nunchuck is used to shake things up with manual control.

Thank you, Wei-Chieh Tseng, I'm completely lost for words, and that doesn't happen often. [Nowhereelse via Engadget]

That having been said, the Cyberbike is being developed by European publisher Bigben Interactive and comes bundled with some sort of lame treehugger game that requires you clean up the planet with the power of your eco-calves (don't worry, it also works with Mario Kart). The bike is slated for a January release in Europe, but pricing details have not been announced. Granted, it will most likely be cheaper than purchasing an actual exercise bike, but I can't imagine that some plastic, boxed Wii accessory will be able to handle the beating. Even professional stationary bikes break down on a fairly regular basis. [Kotaku]

Too bad if you've got a sore leg, right? Thankfully, they're still investigating what level of uncomfortable shuffling would be deemed suspicious enough to call for a secondary screening.

The project is called Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST), and has also developed machines to measure the interval between heartbeats, and how deeply someone inhales.

It's still all research, but one of the researchers told CNN the program is "doing significantly better than chance." I'm all for better security, but it sounds pretty invasive. As Joe Stanley of the ACLU is quoted saying: "Nobody has the right to look at my intimate bodily functions, my breathing, my perspiration rate, my heart rate, from afar."

Unless you're entering the U.S perhaps. Welcome to the possible future of travel. [CNN via Kotaku]

Once your signals hit the receiver, you can support Windows, Linux, Mac or Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii (supposedly). Hard to tell whether or not it can actually do all of these things, since the website looks like one a kid would make for his dad's business over the summer between Jr. High and High School, so we'll have to see for ourselves to be sure. [EFO via The Gadgeteer via Oh Gizmo]

The $50 Darth Vader Nintendo Wii Sensor Bar Holder is essentially a sculpture that holds your sensor bar in the place of a lightsaber. So while you flail away at Wii Sports Resort, onlookers will enjoy the tacit implication that you are not only besting the game but the entire Dark Side of the force. Well, that, or your friends will realize that your fascination with a 30-year-old movie franchise is depleting your bank account and adversely affecting your overall grasp on reality, especially when playing Wii. [StarWarsShop via ChipChick]

The online retailer is also sweetening the deal with a $25 Amazon gift card, which will be good until October 3. Let the holiday insanity begin. [Kotaku]

When you think about, it's amazing that the Wii has motored along for three years at $250. But it's clear that Nintendo has to do something. The 120GB PS3 Slim is $300, the 120GB Xbox 360 Elite is $250 with rebates, and 250GB bundles for both are strongly rumored to be around the corner.

My Wii just kind of sits in the corner all lonely these days. If you don't have one, is the new price enough to make you pick one up? Or will you just hold out until 2011 for the next-gen Wii with HD graphics? [Engadget]

As investigators searched the home for drugs, some drug task force members found other ways to occupy their time. Within 20 minutes of entering Difalco's house, some of the investigators found a Wii video bowling game and began bowling frame after frame.

While some detectives hauled out evidence such as flat screen televisions and shotguns, others threw strikes, gutter balls and worked on picking up spares.

Apparently, several members of the team played for around an hour during the raid—high-fiving, pumping fists and generally having a good time. Not surprisingly, some people have deemed this behavior "inappropriate." Maybe so, but the fact that they played the game does not invalidate the search and it doesn't seem to have wasted any taxpayer money. Hell, it's not like they were partaking in the dealer's inventory—these guys deserve a break now and then. [TBO via Fark]

Wada says that the next-generation, high definition Wii will offer the same capabilities as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, while adding a brand new motion controller. We will have to wait till 2011 to see it, like previous rumors pointed out. [Joystiq]

If that sounds a bit confusing and unconfirmed by anyone but that particular web site, that's because it is. Put simply, the Big N hasn't said a peep about any of this to anyone save those at this alleged secret tree house meeting, whose attendance list included what we presume to be folks like Target, Toys R Us and other retailers who've leaked circulars purportedly advertising a $200 Wii over the past week.

In the end I'm inclined to agree with Kotaku on this one: Wait for the Tokyo Games Show, where all will be revealed and confirmed. Then, after such time has past, we can all get back to predicting when the next price cut will hit. [Nintendojo via GoNintendo via Kotaku]

The CTA Digital Football for Wii may look like some cheap, plastic container for your Wiimote. But it's so much more than that. This product is a manifestation of the way video games are going. Even in the digital realm, physical prowess will soon champion smarts, attention span and the sheer ass power to plant on a couch for days at a time. In the not so distant future, your real self may need to learn to throw a football so your virtual self can keep up.

And while the CTA Digital Football doesn't appear to be for sale just yet, let it serve as warning. It's only a matter of time before we're all getting wedgies during a minigame in Wii Sports. [Kotaku]

Taizo is designed by Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), and is supposed to look silly. The idea is to put people at ease while using his 26 joints to demonstrate around 30 different moves for them to follow.

With the elderly in mind, the 27.5-inch tall bot does many of the exercises from his own special chair, and will last about 2 hours per charge.

But Taizo will be roughly $8000 when he arrives next year. I guess most salarymen/women will have to rent one...or just buy their folks a Wii. [General Robotix via Impress via Pink Tentacle]

The illustrations were done by John Foester for artist Angela Moramarco. More pics at her site. [Angela Moramarco via WiiNoob] Thanks Jamie!

Sure that is more than Guitar Hero for Wii (including guitar and drums) will cost you but for those that love to have the best for rocking, the Logitech stuff is made from the best stuff on earth (just like Snapple). The wireless guitar has a maple neck, rosewood fingerboard and metal frets. Even the wireless controller has a white finish with a glossy-black pick guard.

Like those for the PS3, the Logitech Wireless Drum Controller for Wii has got three drum pads and two cymbals. You can adjust them to your liking and there is a recessed-rim around the pads that help avoid accidental rim shots. And haven't you always wanted a kick pedal made of stainless steel. The Wii remote fits into the panel on the drum set (and into a slot on the back of the guitar).

Logitech also released a wireless drum set for the Xbox360 which is pretty much the same as the one for the Wii without the opening for the remote. Same pricing and all.

For those watching the cash, you can always find the closest pub with a Rock Band jam session and totally mooch on their instruments. [Logitech]

First Place

Second Place

Third Place

The Wii Fit Plus will introduce 15 new mini-games and come as either a standalone disc for $19.99, or as part of a bundle with the original Wii Fit and Balance Board for $99.99. It also looks like Nintendo will be releasing black editions of the Wii remote, nunchuk and MotionPlus, so those concerned about matching their toys to their furniture will finally breathe a sigh of relief.

We're happy to get the release info, but one question remains: will the Wii Fit Plus mean more pictures of Brian in his boxers? [USA Today via kotaku]

The deal, according to ElectricPig, is as follows: If you never dropped those 500 Wii Points on access to the Internet Channel, you can now download it for free. If you for whatever reason had, you're entitled to free access to "a Virtual Console NES title worth 500 points," which, despite the vague phraseology, is pegged with an October release date. In other words, it's a specific game, instead of a simple 500-point credit, or at least a range of titles.

To be fair, they didn't have to give users anything, and no matter how marginally useful the browser is, whenever it was free—like at launch—it felt like a nice value add. [ElectricPig via Kotaku]

Plug-and-play compatible with "X-box" (we assume he means Xbox 360), Wii, PS3 and Windows (Macs are for yankees, not self-proclaimed redneck techies), the Game Gun has an external battery pack that can be pocketed during play. The accelerometers look pretty decent considering the project's homemade, and the gadget really does turn shooter games into a more immersive, Lazer-tag type experience. Pricing hasn't been announced but this kind of awesome probably won't come cheap. [Crunchgear]

PlayOn's been around on the Xbox and PS3 since last year, as well as on all kinds of DLNA-compliant TVs—it's essentially a super-compatible web interface for video services that don't work on certain platforms—and we knew it was headed Wii-ward from the start. This is a step, and a sign that the service will actually materialize sometime soon, but it probably won't include a specific, formal release date. [PlayOn]

-PlayOn support for Nintendo's Wii in Beta.
-This is the first time PlayOn is able to control the user interface (and we spent significant time designing it)
-It is available for a free 14-day full-featured trial at www.playon.tv; after that it is a one-time $39.99 fee to purchase a license
-It is the same software that supports the PS3 and XBOX360, so if you already have a license or active trial, it will work on your Wii as well
-PlayOn uses the "Internet Channel" on the Wii
-How it works: You can find the PlayOn Media Server(s) by opening the "Internet Channel" web browser on the Wii, pressing the "WWW" button, and entering the web address playon.tv — We recommend you add this page to your Wii Browser "Favorites" to make it easy to return to. To upgrade your Nintendo Wii with the "Internet Channel" web browser, visit http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/wii/en_na/channelsInternet.jsp#downloadOpera
-We are very proud to offer Wii support as it has been one of the most requested features from our users and shows our commitment to expanding consumer access to PlayOn
-PlayOn offers the broadest selection of premium content available from Internet – to – TV providers (Hulu, Netflix, CBS, ESPN, CNN, Amazon VOD, You Tube) and our selection of niche content is growing daily via our open plugin architecture:

o Academic Earth
o Adultswim
o Cartoon Network
o Channel9
o Crackle
o Food Network
o GameTrailers.com
o HGTV
o Local Files
o NBA
o NFL
o Southpark Studios
o Spike TV
o Podcasts (OPML Player) — with dozens of available feeds!
o International channels: Danish DR and Spanish TVE
- PlayOn works on a broad range of devices, including the Playstation3, XBOX360, Nintendo Wii, Digeo's Moxi HD DVR, Verismo's VuNow Device and many DLNA-compliant devices
- You can see video demos of playon for the PS3 and XBOX360 at http://www.themediamall.com/playon/lp200907 (sorry - the Wii one isn't ready yet since we are still in Beta and hope to get feedback on the UI before it is set in stone!)

CTA Digital has just released an 8-in-1 pack for the Wii Sports Resort game for an MSRP of $40. As you can see from the image there is quite an assortment of water and land sports equipment. In all cases, the attachable handles have a compartment that fits the Wii remote control and an open ended handle to fit the Wii MotionPlus adapter. [CTA Digital]

Holding two Wiimotes through the power of magnetism, the Charge Station can top off controllers via induction, whether they are wearing silicon sleeves or loaded with Wii Motion Plus add-ons (or whatever other crazy extensions Nintendo could add to the Wiimote). You'll also find an extra USB port in the back, should you want to charge anything else the old fashioned way.
There's no word on price/availability. But I'm gonna guess you'll see it for $30-40, like most smaller Wiimote charging stands. [Nyko]

As someone who just got his second red ring in as many years, is it really that surprising that about half of all Xboxes have shit the bed? Personally, I don't know a single person with an Xbox 360 who hasn't had to deal with it, so hell, maybe the 54.2% figure is generous.

Comparatively, the PS3 has a failure rate of 10.6% and the Wii is at 6.8%. But despite these numbers, gamers play the Xbox the most; 40.3% play it 3 to 5 hours a day, with 37% of PS3 owners doing the same. And unsurprisingly, a full 40.4% of Wii owners turn that console on less than an hour a day.

And that's really the big takeaway here. It's not news that older Xbox 360s fail almost inevitably, but it's interesting that gamers have almost accepted that fact and still play the Xbox despite it. In fact, a mere 3.8% of gamers said that hardware failure will keep them from ever buying another Xbox. I guess people just really like their 1 vs. 100. [Consumerist via Kotaku]

Eventually, the selection will grow to encompass Wii, PlayStation 3 and PS2 games, which will compete directly with the likes of Blockbuster ($9 for five-night rental) and the recently launched GameFly kiosks, which were first spotted on the Texas Tech campus in February. [Redbox blog via Zatz Not Funny - Thanks, Dave]

For instance, you could certainly store small, downloadable Virtual Console games and stream them from from the card. But what about full-game expansions, gigs of data? Traditionally, these couldn't just load from SD as you'd expect.

According to IGN, Nintendo has opened SDHC storage to developers for DLC that can boot naturally with the game, straight from SDHC with no hard drive middle ground.

The reason you'll want a new SD card is pretty simple; SD streaming will kick off with GH5. All the tricks used for both Guitar Hero and Rock Band in the past – leaving internal memory open– is gone. Instead, straight-up booting off the SD card is available, and that means easier downloads, larger expansions, and quicker loads when bringing in song data from the SD card into GH5.

It's good to see that Nintendo is making SDHC a real solution for the system. [IGN via Kotaku]

"When we make some new announcement and if there is no positive initial reaction from the market, I try to think of it as a good sign because that can be interpreted as people reacting to something groundbreaking."

And let me tell you, the Virtual Boy was absolutely groundbreaking. I'm sure the Vitality Sensor will be at least that excellent. [Nintendo Dpad via Go Nintendo]