Here's a grand slam moment -- some HSN host was hocking the Wii video game system the other day, when he wound up, took a swing ... and accidentally fired the controller right at the flat screen TV!
"...and there goes the tennis racket ... I didn't have it on there all the way."
One of the hottest parties in Vegas this weekend was the grand opening pool party at Wet Republic inside the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino -- and Lauren Conrad passed the time in a cabana, playing with a Wii.
LC just became infinitely more hot to 13-year-old boys and 85-year-old men.
Maybe you can sing or maybe you can dance. Can you do both at the same time?
The new EA game, Boogie, gives you a chance to show your friends that you can do both. Using Nintendo Wii's innovative controllers, you shake and move to the rhythm -- while singing along with the included microphone.
Versions of hit songs by The Jackson 5, Kool & the Gang, M.C. Hammer and our favorite TMZ train wreck, Britney Spears, will make your karaoke parties dance-tastic.
Practice, and perhaps you too can be a hit at the VMAs!
Nintendo's ongoing crusade to shrink the waistlines of Wii owners continues ... fat chance! If Wii Sports wasn't helping you get your sweat on, Nintendo's latest game, Wii Fit, will surely help you work off those extra pounds. Wii Fit will come bundled with the Wii Balance Board. Players stand on the Balance Board and it measures their center of gravity, weight and Body Mass Index. The board acts as a controller for over 40 types of training activities and games included in the Wii Fit package.
Activities like aerobic exercise, yoga poses, muscle conditioning, ski jumping, soccer and dancing will get you into into shape faster than you can say, "Now you're playing with power!" Unfortunately, a launch date hasn't been set.
Now you have no excuse for not getting in shape, and Bai Ling will have no excuse for her dancing.
It's been a great year for geeks. Big corporations have been falling over themselves to get your attention; launch parties, leaked images, cryptic posts from Chinese blogs -- it's all been for your benefit. Feeling special? You should.
Now it's time to crown the king of the gadgets for the year 2006. Before you ask, no, it's not you. Since its release, owners have sung its praises, regardless of how many times they've wacked themselves silly with the interface component.
As if it weren't difficult enough to wrestle the Wii away from your family, Nintendo is going to make it even harder beginning this Friday. Nintendo announced today that the anticipated Wii web browser will be available in Beta form on December 22. The browser, created by Opera software, will allow gamers to browse the internet by using the Wii remote from the comfort of their sofas. The remote will allow users to point, click and zoom in and out of web pages. Technology triumphant!
While you're waiting patiently for the new browser, Nintendo will release its Forecast Channel; starting tomorrow, you can check out the weather on a 3-D globe before your holiday travel. The Forecast Channel joins four already live channels: Disc Channel, Photo Channel, Mii Channel and Wii Shop Channel.
Hopefully, the browser will work with a certain entertainment website.
Now that both next gen systems have hit stores, sucking hard-earned cash out of gamer wallets, let's take a look at the very different console launches. The PS3, with its cell processor and Blu-Ray, was created and marketed for the hardcore gamer. Gamers who flocked to the release of the $600 system were a bit more tenacious than retailers expected; stabbings, shootings, robberies and mini-riots plagued campout lines. Not exactly the welcome Sony expected. Most of those waiting in line were planning to sell the system on eBay for a quick buck; some sold as high as $2500, they're now selling for more reasonable $1200 on the auction site. Still a tidy profit (if you don't mind standing in the rain for three days).
Conversely, the Wii launch was a well-oiled machine. Most who waited in lines were guaranteed a Wii for $250, with chances of bodily harm remaining slim. A virtual love fest. In order to choose console recipients, raffle tickets were handed out to people in line, instead of the lunatic PS3 race for chairs that caused one gamer to receive a dislocated jaw -- the guy hung in there and got a PS3. Seriously dude, that's hardcore.
An unscientific poll of gamers (friends) and non-gamers (the rest of the TMZ staff) has the Wii on top, citing the wireless remote and lower cost as main factors.
If you're jonesing for a Wii, you might want to get your act together. Nintendo is urging gamers not to become complacent in their console purchasing plans.
The gaming company is shipping four million consoles to the Americas during the six weeks between Wii's November 19th launch and the end of 2006. Judging by the buzz surrounding the Wii's launch, it might not be enough. If you haven't secured a pre-order of the console by now, you may want to break out the steel-toed boots and helmet for launch day.
Even with warnings about shortages and console related eye-gouging, Nintendo is launching the Wii in style with two official Nintendo launch parties. Toys "R" Us in Manhattan's Times Square will cover the East coast, while GameStop at Universal City Walk in Los Angeles will keep the left coast happy. The events will feature live music, games and special guests from Nintendo. We're hoping it's Mario because we all know what a downer Luigi is at parties.
With gamers salivating over its release, and up to 65 games available for the system before year's end, it looks like it's gonna be a very happy holiday at Nintendo HQ.