NBA Jam Wii

Perhaps the greatest arcade basketball game of all time was NBA Jam. Any fan will never forget the calls in the game. Such calls as, "he's on fire!"

On Tuesday the game is back! Out on the Wii console.

Also if you ever played the game then you know the sweet unlockable characters that were in the game. Well the masterminds at EA Sports put those unlockables back in plus more.

Back are characters like Bill and Hilary Clinton. But so are new characters like Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, random mascots of the teams, Colin Cowherd, Detlef Schrempf, Scottie Pippen, the Beastie Boys team and many, many more.

Check out some footage from the game:

Man vs Wild Video Game, E3 2010: Debut Trailer

Here is the official trailer of Man vs Wild Video Game released at E3 2010 yesterday.

Man vs Wild video game E3

Earlier this year I told you about the Man vs. Wild video game.

The release is getting closer. According to Bear's Twitter:

Bear Grylls: Off to LA now for launch of man vs wild playstation and wii then to Death valley, Nevada for HALO skydive into desert show.

It appears that Bear will be gracing E3 with his presence. E3 is of course the Electronic Entertainment Expo that is held every year to introduce the latest in electronic awesomeness.

Here's what the official press release said:

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The game offers five authentic situations in a role play-style adventure, featuring seasoned survival expert Bear Grylls.

The action begins when players are dropped into extreme conditions and forced to demonstrate indigenous survival techniques such as escaping quicksand in the desert, exploring dangerous jungles, traversing ravines in the mountains and navigating some of the world's most treacherous waters.

The core gameplay of Man vs. Wild is a dynamic mix of exhilarating action adventure, role playing and puzzle solving tasks throughout five extraordinary expeditions. Players gather materials to accomplish tasks such as building fires, catching food, and creating the necessary tools for survival while traveling across miles of diverse landscapes.

Key features of Man vs. Wild game:

• Role Playing Adventure: Players will explore and survive wilderness destinations and discover hundreds of items while maintaining the health and well-being of Bear Grylls;
  
  
• Strategically Positioned Survival Challenges: Depending on location and skill level, players will be tested with hundreds of "Survival Challenges" ranging from the simple (building a fire) to the wildly insane (dodging a Grizzly bear);
  
  
• Wild Weather: Players will experience a wide range of weather conditions including snow storms, intense rain, sand storms and more while traveling through five challenging landscapes around the globe;
  
  
• Survival: Refuge, food and water are the constant priority for all players. Players must hunt and collect food, even if it means eating deer eyeballs, and water to keep Bear nourished and healthy for the challenges that lie ahead. When night closes in, the player must create a sturdy lean-to to protect Bear from potential animal attacks and the harsh elements.
  

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The game is scheduled for a Fall release. And I can't wait!!!! Definitely buying that one.

Wii Bowling Tournament

This weekend was very productive around here on Just Northwest.

Saturday Jeff and I hosted a Wii Bowling Tournament with the proceeds going to our ride with the People's Coast Classic.

Here's our site if you couldn't make it but would like to donate.

We had a number of great prizes that local businesses had donated or Jeff and I picked up in our journeys.

Here's the prize table from that night:

Everyone seemed to have a great time (I know I did) and enjoy the "all you can eat" taco bar that we provided.

Sunday I headed out to my parents house for a 20 mile training ride with my dad. It was beautiful weather with mid-70's and sunny. It was perfect riding weather.

Thanks to everyone who made the Wii Tournament a success! And congrats to all our winners.

Don't be that Wii Golf guy...

Don't be that guy that...

(1) Tries to determine his actual handicap on the game, and then brags about it at the bar.
(2) Complains about the physics of the game and how unrealistic it can be sometimes.
(3) Suggests to friends that there should be money on the game. Then tells someone if he can get spotted a few bucks to get pizza delivered.
(4) Requires people to step away from him so he can focus on his swing.
(5) Fist pumps after they hit a big shot.

Video Bites: Gonzaga Bulldogs

The December 28th edition of the JustSON Video Bites! That's right, bite-sized videos!

View more of our adventures at http://justson.blogspot.com

Contact us at justsouthofnorth@gmail.com

Eastern Eagles
CLICK HERE

Sounders FC Blog
CLICK HERE

Wii dominates all

Even though every hardcore gamer (without a girlfriend) will tell you how much the Wii stinks because its graphics aren't as sparkly, the truth of the matter is it's selling a whole heck of a lot more than the other two "superior" systems.

The Wii outsold Sony's PS3 550,00 to 440,000; Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT) has not yet published its figures, but said they were "double" the previous November week's, according to vgchartz.com.

Now, the bad news. Although Nintendo sold 550,000 Wii consoles between Nov. 22 and 28, that's roughly 30 percent fewer than the nearly 800,000 units sold during the same period in 2008. And that is also despite a $50 price cut on the Wii this fall. Some observers blame mediocre software on the decline. Others have noted Nintendo has been slow to offer new gaming titles for the Wii; the company's only recent major releases have been Wii Sports Resort in July and Wii Fit Plus in early September. According to reports, Wii Sports Resort is selling well.

In October, the game maker reported lower profit of 69.5 billion yen ($767.8 million) for the six-month period ended Sept. 30, compared with 144.83 billion yen for the same period in 2008. The company expects lower total earnings in 2009 than in 2008 -- the first annual earning decline for Nintendo in six years.

Well what do you expect in an economy like this? Nintendo is still racking in the money, and while I'm not sure about the Xbox - I know the PS3 is a big hemorrhage of money for Sony. Make fun of it's sophomoric graphics but the Wii is a moneymaker, that is for sure.

(From Tech Rave)

How to tell if you suck at video games

1. Casey is better than you.

2. The big monsters with the flamethrowers point and laugh at you instead of actually trying to kill you in the game.

3. You get beat by your niece, who has no motor skills because she is a baby.

4. You play games like Wii Bowling, Nursing Home Games 4, Mario Card Stacking and the Canadian Football League Madden 2010.

5. When you play as Lebron on NBA Live, he acts more like Adam Morrison.

6. Your friends skip you when it's your turn to hold the contoller.

7. Even your friend's girlfriend that doesn't play video games laughs at what a terrible job you do.

8. Bowser on Mario Kart Wii really pisses you off.

9. You're not allowed to go to LAN parties or on WoW quests.

10. Somebody mistook your character's odd movements as somebody's internet connection going out. In fact, you were just trying to aim your gun.

Little League Wii

Last night the phone rings. It's Brandon.

"Hey man, what are you doing?" he asks.

And this is a true story. When he called, I was currently icing my right shoulder. All thanks to the Wii.

On Saturday I got a new Wii game. Little League World Series.

You pitch, you throw, you hit, you run bases, you catch. You do it all. With moving around.

I hadn't got a chance to play until last night. I opted for the World Series right away.

I formed my all-star player and then had the option of which team I wanted to play with. I decided that I would be Canada. Go Canada.

My first game, against Japan, went into extra innings. And despite the fact that I switched pitchers in the top of seventh, I (as in me) was still the one throwing the pitches with the Wii remote. I finally won in the 8th, (as 6 is a normal game) with a score of 7-2. I put up 5 runs that inning.

Then, being so gleeful about my win. I decided to play a second game. This time I took on Asia Pacific and again the game went into extra innings. I won 9-8 on a home run by non-other than my look-a-like character.

But I had thrown probably over 200 pitches and my arm was aching. I grabbed the ice packs and had the trainer tape them on my throwing shoulder.

Oh well. Team Canada is currently sitting atop their international bracket with a 2-0 record. And I'll have to make sure I'm ready for tomorrow's game against Europe.

The dog days of summer

I love baseball and good thing because that's going to be the only thing going on for the next couple of months unless you're a big follower of the PGA money standings and NASCAR.

With basketball over and football not starting up until August, we're in for the long haul. For some sports fans that might be too much. This could be where they finally turn and become WNBA fans.

And don't forget, sometimes baseball will have off-days or slow days where only a couple games are being played. What does that mean? Lots and lots of Washington Nationals highlights.

You might be wondering what Casey and I will be doing to pass the time and worry not, we're both quite sane during this slow time in sports. We will fill our time watching Looney Tunes, stalking Rodney Stuckey, coming up with theories on how the Seattle Seahawks are going to win the Super Bowl and playing Wii Bowling.

With the slowdown in sports what will you be doing?

Mario Kart Wii owns my soul

After purchasing Mario Kart Wii on a whim at Blockbuster two weeks ago, my life has been whirlwind of power slides and red heat-seeking shells. It's pretty much the greatest video game ever invented by mankind. And you get a cool steering wheel that comes with the game.

Just take a gander at this beauty...



It's enough to make a grown man cry. There's just so many things that's great about Mario Kart and since this is a blog, I'm going to list all the reasons why:

Retro Tracks -- Brilliant move by Nintendo here to update some N64 tracks, further riding the tailcoats of nostalgia to greatness. They've added some visual kicks and giggles to them but they still run like the old courses. There's also "flat" tracks from the Super Nintendo and Game Boy Advance versions of Mario Kart. While they're kind of .... well... flat.... they're still a nice trip down memory lane. And they've even revived some much maligned Game Cube Mario Kart courses, a game that many Mario Kart fans refuse to acknowledge as to have ever being made.

And get this, they have courses from the Dual Screen handheld as well. That's showing some commitment to all your platforms. Wow.

Playing Online -- I didn't realize how cool this was until I raced against Terrance from Canada. And lets just say his Mii has a certain resemblance to Terrance from South Park. Oh those Canadians and their humor.

But really, setting up races is automated and a breeze, and you'll only race people with the same level of experience as you (determined by your score which initially starts out at 5,000 and goes up and down depending on how you place). This means you'll never get completely frustrated with getting beat all the time.

Unlocking Courses and Racers -- While the initial game has many options, the better you race, the more stuff you unlock. Lets just say that's been my goal for the past two weeks (well me partly, mostly James Caddy from the Collegiate Handyman) and there is now quite a stable of new vehicles, courses and racers sitting on my Wii at the moment.

It's Mario Kart on the Wii -- Seriously, does it get any better than that?

Epic Video of Greatness 15

Yes. This will be the greatest Wii game ever. Racing your friends, no matter where you live.

Cyber adventures with Wii Golf

Since there’s still roughly a foot of snow outdoors and every time I try to go down to the gas station I get passed by a Sherpa scaling the large mountains in Cheney, I decided to remember the better times of summer by playing Wii Golf (on the Wii Sports package).

Problem is, I suck at Wii Golf, I suck large, steaming, smelly donkey crap at Wii Golf. My best score on that game is +8, and keep in mind that you’re playing a nine-hole course. That’s god-awful, somewhere John Daly is laughing, chugging a fifth of whiskey and passing out in some woman’s lap. But that’s what he does, because he’s John Daly.

Now me on the other hand, am not as cool as John Daly, that’s probably why I’m playing Wii Golf by myself in my room on a Sunday night. That’s okay though, I have anti-depressants on the way via UPS.

Oh and thanks to my bootlegged mult-player program I loaded up on the Wii, Casey also got to be in the game of Wii Golf. Problem is, he really wasn’t concerned about my quest to improve my golf score, as you will see throughout this post.

I started off my nine-hole game on a very negative note, overshooting the green on my second shot, however I was able to save face by chipping close to the hole for an easy par putt-in.

Casey, on the other hand, didn’t even play the first hole, he was too busy using the “Mii Parade” feature on the Wii. “Hey check this out, somebody made a Mii of Matt Damon!”

Screw Matt Damon. Just like Sarah Silverman did.

On the second hole, I promptly put my ball in the sand. And nothing bugs me more than sandy balls.

I chip it on the green but two-putt the damn thing. I wrap my putter around a tree via a special and widely unknown button-combination code. Casey, on the other hand, it making sand castles in the bunker.

I did manage to have one good hole in the game, smashing through the trees twice on the third hole but making a nice putt for birdie. That put me back at even.

Then came my worst enemy, the 4th hole in Wii golf. The Island hole. This hole gives me nightmares. Sometimes I wake up in a cold sweat after imagining that I overshot the island for the umpteenth time. It’s about as frustrating as one of those claw machines at the Supermarket. You know what I mean? The claw machines where you try and pick up some sort of prize out behind class but the damn thing always seems to loose its grip at the last moment? That’s what it’s like playing on the Island hole.

And I bogeyed it. Way to go, Brandon. Maybe this is why your relatives don’t talk to you anymore.

Casey was strangely playing Waverunner 64 around the island during this hole.

On the fifth hole, I hit one tree, and then another, and then I bogey the hole to go up +2. I’ve struck more wood in this game that a teenager looking at the latest swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated.

Casey points and laughs, but a virtual bird flying above drops a little present on his Mii’s head, who strangely looks like Matt Damon.

“Did you load up the Matt Damon Mii? Why?”

“I like Matt Damon.”

“….. get away from me”

I got a par on the 6th hole, but really screwed things up on the seventh, by three-putting for the double bogey and going up to +4 in the game.

However, hope was in sight, with only two holes left, I could get another high score on the game, as long as I didn’t screw things up.

I set myself up with a par on the eighth, while Casey flew a kite with his Matt Damon Mii. I had a four-shot cushion on my best score.

And then… the ninth hole. I was on stroke seven and I haden’t even gotten past the driving tees because of the water hazards and when I finally made it to the green, it was a lost cause.

I got a +5 on the hole. They don’t even have a cool bird nickname for that.

As I left the game in disgust, I noticed Casey and his Matt Damon Mii skipping off into the sunset.

It was then I realized that I hate golf, and Matt Damon.

The Wii Workout

Incase you haven't heard, the Wii is the hottest thing to happen to videogame systems since Pong.

Well, I joined the craze of Wii fanatics and purchased one a while back. I actually had to fend off 14 kids, 7 moms, 2 grandpas and a goat on my way to the cash register at Toys R Us.
For some reason I have always enjoyed track and field.
So when Nintendo came out with Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, I knew I had to get it. Little did I know what I was getting into.

Day 1: Throwing the game into the system I get ready to play. Two hours later I was ranked 1,251 out of 45,082 in the world. Yet I still sat over four feet behind first place.

Day 2: My shoulders were slightly sore yet I decided to play anyway. Today I won the gold in the 100 meter dash, a silver in rowing against the computer and placed 983 out of 14,256 in the hammer throw.

Day 3: I head for the TV with a slight limp and unable to lift my arms above my head. The constant movement of the remotes (spinning and flicking) have begun to take their toll on me. Yet somehow I manage to place silver in archery, gold in high jump and after the fourth hour still couldn't break the top 5 in long jump.

Day 4: I warm up with a few stretches and jumping jacks. Then I get to work. After 3 hours I have won gold in the 400 meter dash, forth in the 4 x 100 relay and silver in the triple jump. Another day, more sore muscles but more medals too.

Day 5: I lay in bed, unable to move. The constant abuse to my muscles has finally been too much. I finally roll out of bed and crawl to the TV. Refusing to let this system get the best of me, I turn it on. After only 12 minutes my arms feel like putty and I am laying in the middle of the floor on my back. Sweating worse than Mark Mangino at a lobster buffet during the Kansas summer. This round goes to Mario and Sonic. They have beat me.

This game is a better workout than Richard Simmons came out with Disco Sweat. And that is saying something.