Online Multiplayer on the Wii

Nintendo has outdone themselves with the Wii providing an innovative type of game play far better than the Xbox360 and PS3, but where Microsoft and Sony has Nintendo beat is their online game play. Microsoft was the first in this market and it proved a great success with the Xbox, it proved even a greater success with Nintendo's DS. So why has Nintendo yet to release online play? Some believe, because it is not as profitable as Nintendo would like it to be.

When I first bought the Wii and heard it came with integrated Wi-Fi technology at no additional charge, I assumed they would have online multiplayer out of the box. There is some light at the end of the tunnel though. At the 2007 Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco, Nintendo announced that Pokemon will have online multiplayer upon its scheduled US release on June 25th. It was also said that it would integrate with the Nintendo DS online community as well, probably in a similar way that Mii Characters transfer from Wii to Wii but instead pokemon characters from DS to Wii.

So could Online Multiplayer be as close as this summer. I sure hope so. It would be great to play the new Mario Kart on the Wii against other people all over the world.

Buy Wii Play Without the Wii Remote Control

There has been a lot of craze around the recently launched Wii Play. It is hard to find, and it is getting mixed reviews. I think Nintendo dropped the ball on this one from a marketing stand point. They are packaging a Wii Remote with the game, you cannot get it individually. Even though this may of seemed like a good idea, I think it is actually hurting sales.

Many people already have enough Wii Remotes and do not want to buy another one, but still want the game. I have 4 Wii Remotes myself, what would I do with a fifth. Also Wii Remotes are still hard to find, so you have people buying extra copies of the game just for the Remote control.

Bundling the remote with the game would have been great if they released it on the same day they released the Nintendo Wii. People looking to buy a second remote, would most surely cough up an extra $20 to get the game as well. Releasing it much later, still works well for the people who have not bought the Wii yet or for people who are still looking for Wii Remotes, but with the availability circumstances and the timing they should be packaging these separately. When they start to get more availability they should then bundle for a discount.

So you are reading this article still trying to find out where you can get Wii Play without the Wii Remote. Well you can, there are many people trying to make a quick buck off of the lack of availability. These people are buying the package, splitting them up, and selling them individually, because both are hard to find. Try these two searches on Ebay: search1, search2. You are sure to find it there. Also go to your local GameStop or EBGames, you may get lucky and find it 'used' for $20, actually it would probably be new from someone who bought the package just for the remote and sold back the game.

I am going to try the local GameStop myself to see if I can get a hold of a 'used' one.

Create your Mii Online in Flash - Wii not required

Would you like to create yourself a Mii, but do not have a Wii. You now can create one in Flash. The most widely used Flash Mii Creator out there is the one provided by Joystiq. Even though this one works fairly well, the graphic images do not look like they do on the Wii.

There is a new and upcoming Flash Mii Creator (and Editor) that is still in Beta development at MiiEditor.com. This editor allows you to actually import and export Mii files that can be transported to and from your Wii (go to MiiMall.com for information on how to transfer Mii Character files to and from your Wii). Whats best about this Mii Editor is that the graphic representation of the Mii is fairly close to how it looks on the Wii. Since it is still in Beta though, there are still some bugs to be worked out, I noticed that one of my Mii files that I uploaded had the wrong eyebrows.

All and all there are some good tools out there, but none mimic the Wii quite right.

Tii Shirt - Put your Mii on a Tii

There are a lot of companies out there that can now print your Mii characters on your shirt. It is pretty cool actually I am looking to get my Mii on a Tii. Here are a couple of these companies. MiiShirt.com and mrcloud.com/nintendo-tshirt-head-p-172.html.

Show off your Mii to your friends

You have a new Mii and you want to show it off to your friends? Well there is this cool website that is starting to pick up a lot of users called MiiPlaza.net. You can upload a picture of your Mii character for the world to see. Some of the celeberity Miis look so much like the real celeberties, you got to check it out.

Mii Parade - How to Create a Mii Parade for your Wii

To create a Mii Parade, you need to exchange your Wii Codes, this is how it works:

-Turn on WiiConnect24 in the Wii Options
-Get Wii Console Numbers from Friends and this Blog, post your number as well (you can get your code number from the Address book)
-Add these Wii numbers to your Address book, by going to the Message Board and then Create a Message
-Go to the Mii Channel and turn on Travel in the Mii Parade
-Create Mii's and turn Mingle On
-Wait a couple of days
-Miis from other consoles should start to gather in your Parade, you can grab them and drop them in your plaza for use in your Wii games.


Here is my console's Wii Number: 1842 6742 6180 6954
View the Comments to view other people's Wii Codes

Post your Console Wii Number as a comment to this article. I will be posting other friends Wii Numbers here too.

Mii Character Creation - How to create a Mii

Creating a Mii character is simple. Just turn on your Wii and in your Wii Home go to the Mii Channel. In the Mii channel, click the create Mii icon on the left. Don't have a Wii yet, you can get some practice creating a Mii at websites like www.createmii.com, but do not waste too much time for you cannot save the Mii you create on these websites.

After creating your Mii, you then would want to probably start a Mii Parade. See my article about creating Mii Parades here.