The Wii port of the Gamecube version of Resident Evil IV, which consists of modification of the game to fit the new console, has arrived in stores.  This means that the controls have been remade to fit the demands of a wiimote, and that the game now features widescreen support.  However, the most interesting thing about Resident Evil 4 for the Wii is that the graphics are almost exactly identical to those of the Gamecube edition.  Take a look at this screenshot:

Anyways, the Wii version of the game is only $30 (read: cheap), so you might want to check it out, just to see how it feels to go on a zombie-killing rampage with your wiimote in hand.  Here’s the official press release.

Nintendo NES

Baseball
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Jr
Gradius
Ice Hockey
Mario Bros
Pinball
Soccer
Solomon’s Key
Super Mario Bros
Tennis
The Legend of Zelda
Urban Champion
Wario’s Woods

NEC PC Engine / TURBO GRAFX

Alien Crush
Bomberman ‘93
Bonk’s Adventure
Dungeon Explorer
Military Madness
Moto Roader
R-Type
Soldier Blade
Super Star Soldier
Victory Run

SEGA MEGADRIVE

Altered Beast
Columns
Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
Ecco The Dolphin
Golden Axe
Gunstar Heroes
Ristar
Sonic the Hedgehog
Space Harrier II
Toe Jam & Earl

Nintendo SNES

Donkey Kong Country
F-Zero
Sim City
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
Super Castlevania IV

Nintendo 64

Super Mario 64

Also, it’s important to note that all of the NES games cost 500 points, the NEC games are 600 points each, the Sega Megadrive and SNES games are 800 a piece, and the Nintendo 64 games are 1000 a pop.  Also, it seems like the selection is pretty unbalance, with there being far more NEC games available than SNES or N64 games.  When are we going to see some classics like Ocarina of Time, Chrono Trigger, or even Super Mario World?

I have to explain, of course, that CHAT means CAT in french

The first thing I noticed when I came across Wii-chat was how active it seemed to be. The forums are brand-new, but there are already 12,000 members making almost 170,000 posts. On my own blog, I only get that high if I count spam comments!

There’s some interesting stuff on there. Kunu has written an exclusive guide to the Nintendo Wii, hundreds of pages of friend codes for you lonely wii-ers, and threads like this Canadian one trying to help find stores actually carrying Wiis.

As you can see, the site itself is covered in ads, but with so much activity it probably has reasonably high server costs:

Oddly, there’s a tags page section of the site, which seems to mostly be a predefined set of keywords the site owner thinks are interesting that hook into the site search. Perhaps it’s useful, perhaps not–I don’t see any easy way for end-users to tag threads or posts:

This is supposed to be a sponsored review of Wii Chat, but I’m finding it quite hard to review … a forum. What can you say? It’s like every other forum I’ve seen–slightly customized with a template that suites its theme. It’s solid, and active, so it seems like a good forum. It’s also the leader right now in the Google SERPS. So, if you’ve got a Wii and are looking for a place to meet other Wii users, chat, or debate, Wii-chat is probably for you!

Siliconera presents this WarioWare video, which demonstrates the worthiness of this Wii game for a party, because can placate a dozen people at once!  Also, there are some very interesting ways the wiimote is used for this game, and a great ending, so check out the whole vid:

* Graphic tip/chip 29.60
* CPU 13.00
* DRAM 7.80
* Optical disk drive 31.00
* Power supply 11.30
* Production cost 19.50 (with the half price of PS3 editorial staff calculation)
* Cost total 158.30
* Wholesale price 195.99 (with 8 applying of price calculation)

The grand total is $158, so selling them at $200 to retailers would mean that Nintendo can take in a big profit. Amazing. I’ve heard from a game programmer that the Wii is not actually more than a glorified Gamecube, technologically. Rather, it’s their new control system that’s the innovation.

Here’s a photo of the magazine page, for you japanese speakers:

What could possibly make Wii a more appealing next-gen console?  Perhaps the fact that Opera is being thrown in as a downloadable freebie at no additional cost until June 2007!  After that date, however, you will have to spend Wii points to obtain it, so take advantage of this deal sooner than later.  Also, the Opera browser features AJAX and Flash support and will be available on launch day. 

You can check out the rest of the photos at IGN.

The question I pose to you, my gentle readers, is this: can these screenshots be regarded as sufficient evidence to confirm or refute the claim that there are season changes in Zelda: Twilight Princess?  It really seems to be an impossible question, and I doubt it can be answered without playing the actual game. 

Of course, this game will utilize the Wii-remote controller (Wiimote) to give users as much control as possible of their character, movements, and weapons.  You can also view the Official Call of Duty 3 Trailer over at GameSpot.

Saturo Iwata, the president of Nintendo, made it clear in a Japanese marketing event that the next-gen Wii (codename: Nintendo Revolution) would have a “virtual console” service via the internet.  This “virtual console” he speaks of is essentially an online method of browsing and downloading retro Nintendo hits (think of all those old Zelda, FF, Mario, and Metroid games) for the reasonable price of $4.50 to $8.99 USD.  Contrast that with the outrageous sale prices of retro games for the GameBoy, which sold anywhere from $20 to $40 a piece!  With great anticipation, ArsTechnica adds that “[u]nfortunately, we still don’t know when the Wii will launch or how much it will cost. Iwata said the launch date and final pricing for the Wii will not be announced until September.”