A hint of something awesome?

Wait and see!

It's never too early for flip flops

Does it matter that it's February in Toronto? Does it matter that its one of the worst blizzardy nights we've had all winter? Heck no! Because we recieved two pairs of his and her original NES flipflops straight from Nintendo of Canada this week. Thank's everyone! As much as we wish we could rock these on some white sands, we're happy giving each other Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toes at home.

Wii Launch Love-in

This morning was the official Canadian Wii launch event at Atlantis in the symbol of technological progress a la 1974, Ontario Place. But we braced the rusting bridge to get our hands on 38 Wii consoles loaded with games like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Rayman: Raving Rabbids, Red Steel, Super Monkey Ball, ExciteTruck and Wii Sports.

The event was like any other media event - a heavily branded space with lots of games and pounding techn music. Ron Bertram, prez of NOCL made a breif speech that reassured media that Wii would be the winner this holiday season thanks to the success of DS and their "disruptive" philosophy. And then on to the games!

I managed to get some good face time with Rayman: Raving Rabbids (which was not demo-ed at all at E3) and it's pretty darn cute. What is essentially a disc full of mini-games, Rayman runs into a large arena and behind each door is a mini-game where the objective is to take advantage of the rabbids weaknesses (their love of eating and disco dancing and unfamiliarity with cows). The games are short and easy - the graphics are fun and cartoony, which suits the Wii.

I watched a lot of Red Steel - it was one of the longest waits at the event (longer than Zelda - wtf?) and I can honestly say that Gears of War has ruined every other shooter for me. Red Steel was boring with long story cut cenes and the gameplay seemed trivial at best. While I understand I was watching one of the first levels being played, the pure lack of visuals that Gears has turned me right off.

That brings me to Legend of Zelda - yeah it is awesome. The controls are very natural despite there being a lot of them mapped onto every button and the graphics look vibrant and stunning on the Wii. The way Link moves, rolls, climbs, jumps feels really great - he looks good as you move him, not stiff at all. I wasn't able to try any of the combat (boo), but I'm excited to pick this game up.

I won't go on about Wii Sports - if you have friends they will like these games. You will not like these games if you are a loner. Nuff said.

I got some okay swag that I will take a few pics of when I get home and let 8Bit rummage through it all.

A Plug-in Pinata

Cool News reported this morning that next year we can expect a line of figurines based on Viva Pinata characters. Better yet, these figurines will plug right into the XBOX360 and upload special extras for the game.

"The figurines (which won't go on sale for another year) plug right into that Xbox 360, enabling kids to "download and upload special 'powers' and other attributes that can be spent in the pinata game world," kind of like "an electronic-age equivalent of Pokemon cards." Says Ed Ventura, Microsoft's vp of franchise development: "We're trying to build a world."

A video game peripheral that is also a toy or collectable figure is genius!

Canadian Pre-Orders Start Monday!

It's official. EB Games will start Canadian pre-orders of both PS3 and Wii on Monday, Ocotber 16. But you have to put down a $50 Trade In OR a $200 deposit. EB Games released this on their website today:

EB Games Canada stores will begin accepting limited pre-orders for the PlayStation 3 and Wii consoles on Monday, October 16, on a first come, first served basis. Due to extremely limited supply, we expect to reach our limit very quickly, most likely in minutes. We will not accept additional pre-orders at that time. To avoid an unnecessary trip we strongly recommend you call your local store to determine availability. $50 CDN in trade or a $200 CDN cash/credit reservation deposit is required. As we cannot control production and shipping issues by the manufacturer, a reservation deposit does not guarantee receipt of a system available to purchase at launch. Reservations/Purchases are limited to 1 per household.

I'm so torn - I HATE EB Games with a vegence. And I hate that they are asking for me to hand over $200 - which is 3/4 the prices of the Wii! But I really want the security that receipt brings. It will lull me to sleep with visions of Rayman's Raving Rabbids and Legend of Zelda. Or I camp out at Best Buy with the rest of the masses..which could be fun. We could smuggle in some beers and hang with the homies on Bay & Dundas. So who wants to join my camp out on November 18?

Panty Raid

While Kotaku and GeekonStun fantasize about teenage girls wearing Nintendo panties, we sophistocated lovers-of-the-game chose these cotton blends as our personal favourite. How cute would it be to play WoW in these?

Not only are they Canadian-made and 12 bucks (!), but they're perfectly devilish just in time for Hallowe'en. And you know what they say about girls who wear black undies... Order them from Sick on Sin.

X'06 for Canucks

Have you got your invite to Microsoft's PR-fueled X'06 event in Toronto yet?

It's no Barcelona, but "Jade," (XBOX Canada's community organizer) guarantees me that those who show up will be first to play unreleased 360 games in the flesh. And really, demos of Gears of War,(maybe)Blue Dragon, and even Viva Pinata are too good to pass up.

When: Wednesday, Oct 18
Time: 4:30-7:30p.m.
Where: Brant House, 522 King St West

The link on the XBOX.ca page is gone, but if you e-mail a "pretty please" letter to Jade at jade@microsoft.com, you still might have a chance to get in on this!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving

It's Canadian Thanksgiving - which means a few days away from home, away from WoW, away from the XBOX360 to sit in my parent's living room stuffed with turkey and dream about all the gaming excitement that's about to start. Just think about it, soon the stores will be stocked with some of the year's most anticipated games, and by the time America cleans their plates on their own Thanksgiving weekend, we will be that much closer to the PS3 and Wii releases.

Since I've had some time to reflect I've come up with a short pre-christmas wish list of all the titles I am looking forward to in the next little while. Tell me, what does yours include?

Nicky's List:
1. Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
2. Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess (Wii)
3. World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade (Mac)
4. Viva Pinata (XBOX360)
5. Gears of War (XBOX360)
6. Rayman: Raving Rabbids (Wii)
7. Bully (PS2)
8. Guitar Hero II (PS2)
9. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
10. Wario Ware Smooth Moves (Wii)