Official Wii/DS Q/A thread. FAQ in first post! Game reviews in second post!

[donald&daisy]

Well, we started out with some rechargeables from Sam's Club, but after a while we would lose them, put them in other things, and we would never have fresh ones. We broke down and bought a charge station made by Energizer a couple of weeks ago and I LOVE it!! Now we just have to keep the batteries fresh in the 360 controls and the remotes...lol

 

[The_Horned_King]

Or...you could do what we did....just buy rechargeable batteries for the remotes. We have 10 rechargeables. 6 are in our 3 wiimotes and 4 are charged and standing by. Whenever a set goes bad, we pop the charged ones in and charge the 2 dead ones and put them in the ziplock bag ready for next time. We buy the rayovac hybrids so they hold their charge while waiting to be used.

Very true...then again I'm to lazy to do that...i just drop my wiimotes in the charging station at the end of playing and pull them out to start..so battery fuss to deal with.

I do the same with my 360 controller....i hate changeing batteries...so battery packs are a god send to me.

 

[Disney8704]

Um just letting you know that you shouldnt charge your wii mote batteries after playing every time. Think of it as a cell phone battery. If you charge it when it still has some charge to it weither it be 90% charged or even 2% charged, after awhile, the battery is gonna start to think that when it gets to that point, the battery is dead. After awhile, the battery will not hold a charge for a long period of time. What your supposed to do and should do is wait until it competely dies, THEN charge it.

As for the whole charging station..I HIGHLY recommend it. DH and I used to have to change our batteries at least 2 times a month per wii mote. We have 4 wii motes. And after awhile, it got very expensive. We have saved a lot of money getting the rechargeable batteries and charging station. We make sure at least 1 wii mote is fully charged. And when one dies completely, we put it on the charger and turn the other wii mote on, make sure its on player 1 and continue on with the game. Its that simple.

Very true...then again I'm to lazy to do that...i just drop my wiimotes in the charging station at the end of playing and pull them out to start..so battery fuss to deal with.

I do the same with my 360 controller....i hate changeing batteries...so battery packs are a god send to me.

 

[Disney8704]

Not sure if this has been mentioned or not but here is a new game that is getting ready to come out!

Neopets Puzzle Adventure $39.99
Published by: Capcom
Developed by: Infinite Interactive
Release Date: November 25, 2008
Genre: Puzzle
Local Play: 2 Versus / 2 Co-Op
System: Wii, DS and PC

Neopets Puzzle Adventure offers an in-depth and exciting storyline full of puzzle-based gameplay set in the world of Neopets. The game offers pick up and play gameplay, new never-before-seen areas in the Neopets universe to explore, and the opportunity to redeem codes for exclusive virtual items at the Neopets website.

The game board itself resembles a chess board, while the gameplay takes the principles of Reversi and Go, and adds new twists that take the adventure to unexpected levels. The goal is to turn all of the chips on the board to your Neopet's color.

General Features
*Challenging board game-based puzzles reward critical thinking

*Over 7 different games types and variations

*Developed by Infinite Interactive, creators of the popular Puzzle Quest game

*Neopets Puzzle Adventure will generate codes that can be redeemed for unique items on the Neopets.com website

*Collect over 300 items, recipes and treasures, many of which can be equipped on your pet to provide useful bonuses

*Choose and customize one of 12 Neopets to be your central character in the story

*Travel through three Lands of Neopia as you experience an epic story with more than 150 quests in the single-player game

*Co-operative and Head-to-Head multiplayer matches

*Collect 150 "PetPets" for extra abilities and earn 30 special Awards for completing missions

FROM IGN.COM
E3 2008: Neopets Update
You can never get enough Puzzle Quest.
by Daemon Hatfield

July 15, 2008 - We got to spend some more time with the Neopets-skinned edition of Puzzle Quest (PQ) and it doesn't look like PQ fans need to worry about the Nickelodeon license. Although Neopets is aimed at a younger audience, the Othello-based conflicts last longer and require more brain power than the Bejewelled battles of Puzzle Quest. Developer Infinite Interactive has added a couple new features since we saw it last.

The nature of Puzzle Quest led to "happy accidents" as players made jewel matches that sometimes created massive combos. These accidents don't occur naturally in Othello, so the developers are adding in some of their own. If you can flip over enough chips you'll cause a shockwave that turns over even more chips around the board randomly.

The capturing mechanic in Neopets occurs during battle, as opposed to on the overworld map in PQ. Players can equip a net that is used to capture pets on the battlefield. Using the net costs points, which are what it takes to win the match. If it doesn't work you'll be left at a disadvantage. You can equip two items at a time. We were also using a sword, which can be used to destroy any of your opponent's chips on the playing field. This also costs points.

Mini-games are the bread and butter of the Neopets official website, and many will be included in the Wii, PC, and Nintendo DS games. Taming pets, training pets, cooking, forging items, and other activities are handled by mini-games. Some of these are lifted straight from the official site. Most are takes on standard fare like Memory, Minesweeper, or Collapse.

Neopets will be up for adoption later this year.

 

[cruisnfamily]

Um just letting you know that you shouldnt charge your wii mote batteries after playing every time. Think of it as a cell phone battery. If you charge it when it still has some charge to it weither it be 90% charged or even 2% charged, after awhile, the battery is gonna start to think that when it gets to that point, the battery is dead. After awhile, the battery will not hold a charge for a long period of time. What your supposed to do and should do is wait until it competely dies, THEN charge it.

As for the whole charging station..I HIGHLY recommend it. DH and I used to have to change our batteries at least 2 times a month per wii mote. We have 4 wii motes. And after awhile, it got very expensive. We have saved a lot of money getting the rechargeable batteries and charging station. We make sure at least 1 wii mote is fully charged. And when one dies completely, we put it on the charger and turn the other wii mote on, make sure its on player 1 and continue on with the game. Its that simple.

I don't believe that this is true with batteries any longer. The older type of rechargeables used to have a "memory" and what you said above was true but I don't think that is the case anymore.

 

[Disney8704]

I dont know how recent these new batteries are, but its true with DH cell phone. When he first got the phone he would charge it every night regardless how dead it was. It could have almost a full battery and he would charge it up. After awhile, whenever his battery dropped down to half a battery life left, well it should be that. Instead it just dies. He hasnt gotten a new battery yet. Now, he's lucky to have the thing last 2 days before it dies. He hardly talks on it. But it sure drains quickly.

I don't believe that this is true with batteries any longer. The older type of rechargeables used to have a "memory" and what you said above was true but I don't think that is the case anymore.

 

[quiltymom]

Our wii suddenly will not power up. Any suggestions, or is it just dead? My guess is that it will be too expensive to repair.

Thanks.

 

[Justin the Hook]

I don't believe that this is true with batteries any longer. The older type of rechargeables used to have a "memory" and what you said above was true but I don't think that is the case anymore.

The only recharchable batteries without a memory are Lithium Ion.

 

[tyedye]

Our wii suddenly will not power up. Any suggestions, or is it just dead? My guess is that it will be too expensive to repair.

If you have already checked all cables and connections and can rule that out, then I would contact Nintendo Customer Services/Support.

Re the battery charge, here is cut and paste from an msnbc article earlier this month.
Tips to prolong battery life
To help prolong the life of your cell phone battery, consider these recommendations:

A battery’s life is determined by a combination of the number of times it can be charged and by time itself, says Buchmann of Cadex Electronics. “Batteries age from the day they’re manufactured,” he said. “Even if you’re not using the battery, it ages.” Most lithium-ion batteries will last for between 300 and 500 charges. But if you let the battery run down too much before charging, that can hurt its lifespan, he says.
“If you were to deep-discharge a battery each time before you charge it, you’ll get fewer cycles than if it only discharged a little before you charge again. “So, if you’re at home and near the phone’s charger, or cradle, plug it in. With lithium-ion batteries, you cannot overcharge ... There’s still a lot of confusion about that, from the days when nickel-based batteries were used in phones, and had to be fully discharged once in a while” before being charged again.

The entire article can be found here: http://http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26945049/

 

[Justin the Hook]

Our wii suddenly will not power up. Any suggestions, or is it just dead? My guess is that it will be too expensive to repair.

Thanks.

I would call Nintendo customer support, if your Wii is less than a year old it is still under warranty and if you registered it your warranty is 15 months.

 

[harleyquinn]

Happy day after Halloween everyone!

Shake off those sugar comas and get moving!
Hope everyone had a great night!

 

[quiltymom]

I would call Nintendo customer support, if your Wii is less than a year old it is still under warranty and if you registered it your warranty is 15 months.

Thanks. We'll call them about it, but we'll also check the cables first. And unfortunatley we've had it for almost 18 months, so the warranty is up. Oh well.

 

[The_Horned_King]

Um just letting you know that you shouldnt charge your wii mote batteries after playing every time. Think of it as a cell phone battery. If you charge it when it still has some charge to it weither it be 90% charged or even 2% charged, after awhile, the battery is gonna start to think that when it gets to that point, the battery is dead. After awhile, the battery will not hold a charge for a long period of time. What your supposed to do and should do is wait until it competely dies, THEN charge it.

As for the whole charging station..I HIGHLY recommend it. DH and I used to have to change our batteries at least 2 times a month per wii mote. We have 4 wii motes. And after awhile, it got very expensive. We have saved a lot of money getting the rechargeable batteries and charging station. We make sure at least 1 wii mote is fully charged. And when one dies completely, we put it on the charger and turn the other wii mote on, make sure its on player 1 and continue on with the game. Its that simple.

s cruisn said...this isn't the case with the nyko battery packs it doesn't matter if you put them into the charge station after every play.

Our wii suddenly will not power up. Any suggestions, or is it just dead? My guess is that it will be too expensive to repair.

Thanks.

Nintendo is really good with customer care. Call them and they may be able to give you a few ideas to check while on the phone with them.

 

[disneyfan2]

Well i found a game that is great for the younger ones(esp girls) My DD5 has had a ball playing littliest pet shop. It is so fun and easy/age appropriate with fun games.
I did notice our local stores are advertising alot of new kids games this week (we are always behind in releases to USA ) they have a new Dora game, Garfield comign, a new Barbie and a few others that are all ages. I guess Santa will be making a pit stop shortly.

 

[aprilgail2]

Has anyone gotten Wii Music yet and if so is it something a 9 year old girl would be interested in??

 

[aladams2]

Has anyone gotten Wii Music yet and if so is it something a 9 year old girl would be interested in??

We just rented it and you are basically just moving your hands to the rhythm to make it go faster or slower. I thought it looked good, but looks are decieving!! I thought I would want to purchase it but am very glad that I rented it first. It was well worth the $7 to rent to find out I didn't care for it!!

 

[Tinkerbellgal]

I was just wondering this.
Do any of you guys know if...
American Wii games will work on U.K Wii's?
My dad is going over to american on tuesday and we where just wondering.
'cause you guys have all the games out before we do
LOL
Thanks.
Sarah xoxo

 

[The_Horned_King]

I was just wondering this.
Do any of you guys know if...
American Wii games will work on U.K Wii's?
My dad is going over to american on tuesday and we where just wondering.
'cause you guys have all the games out before we do
LOL
Thanks.
Sarah xoxo

To answer your question sarah, your answer is NO. Other then then Nintendo Ds all videogame systems are region locked. (aka Europen wii's, x360's, and ps3's only play games form that region. Us wii's will only play north american wii games-aka Us canada, and mexico) The DS is the only current system without the region locks. meaning you can buy a Ds game anywhere in the world and play it no matter where you got the system.

It's always been disappointing that it works this way, but sadly it's an indusrty standard to have systems region locked.

Justin

 

[The_Horned_King]

Has anyone gotten Wii Music yet and if so is it something a 9 year old girl would be interested in??

Wii music is garbage stay far far away!

 

[Dannielle_1]

I'm thinking of getting a Sims type game, but not sure which one I should get. This would primarily for me (adult female) and for my DS (3 years old) to basically run around on. I was looking at the My Sims Kingdom, Animal Crossing: City Folks, Animal Crossing for the GameCube, or one of the Harvest Moons (GameCube or Wii version). What is anyone's opinion on these? I've never had any game of this type.

Also, any opinions on the Final Fantasy games? I really enjoy the Mario/Zelda games, would these games fit in the same general catagory?

Thanks for any help!