Nintendo has made a lot of money from the Wii, but sometimes all good things must come to an end. In Nintendo’s case, it must now pay $21 million to Texas company Anascape. The small gaming company specializes in making game controllers and Nintendo’s classic controllers were invented and patented by it.

Anascape sued Nintendo for using its patent in 2005 and now a federal jury has ruled against Nintendo, determining that the company should pay $21 million in damages to Anascape. Even for a company such as Nintendo this is not a small amount and would likely have been even more had the Nunchuk been involved too.

Anascape also sued Microsoft for the same reason, and PORTALIT explains what happened.

Microsoft chose the quick way out of the conflict and quietly settled with Anascape out of court. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed to the public. Nintendo chose to carry on and it was now left with a hefty bill.

Nintendo isn’y going to give up and doesn’t plan to leave court anytime soon. Here’s what Bloomberg reports.

The company expects the trial court to “promptly reduce the dollar amount of the verdict significantly” because it wasn’t calculated correctly, spokesman Charlie Scibetta said in an e-mailed statement.

Photo: © Andrew15*

It was almost two years ago when Nintendo unveiled the Wii with its innovative controllers and immediately grabbed everyone’s attentions. Since then, the company never fails to impress with news of entering areas which hardly have any other connection to games.

Although it was admittedly April Fools’ Day yesterday, this story doesn’t seem too far fetched. An otherwise reliable source NewScientist magazine reported that Nintendo Wii controllers may soon become one of the next generation of useful tools for soldiers.

Now David Bruemmer and Douglas Few, both engineers at the US Department of Energy’s Idaho National Lab in Idaho Falls, have modified a military robot so that it can be controlled by the Wiimote. “Using the ‘Wiimote’ to intuitively control the robot makes sense”

Packbot, made by iRobot in Burlington, Massachusetts, disposes of bombs, sniffs out explosives and checks for landmines for US soldiers. It is 70 centimetres long, and moves on wheels or tracks. Some even have machine guns attached, although these are yet to be used in battle.

However, assuming the story is true, it’s still in the testing process, but a robot controlled by Wii-like controllers certainly offers advantages over other control methods. Meanwhile, the U.S. military will have enough potential recruits on hand skilled in using a Wii controller to tactfully navigate a robot thanks to weeks if not months of experience with Mario.

As stated, some of you might think that this is one of April 1st things, but the date for the article in New Scientist magazine reads 27 March 2008.

Photo: © hdc

If Super Mario Galaxy was the number one game for the Nintendo Wii last year, there might be two in the running for the title in 2008. The first is Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but another surefire hit looks set to be Mario Kart Wii. In fact, WiiDs already reports that Amazon.com features the title in its top three products sales. In total, 337,140 copies have already been pre-ordered even though the title will not be released until next month.

But is it any good? Well, after playing with a build in the Nintendo office, Gamespot says yes.

So far Mario Kart Wii looks like it’s got all its bases covered and then some. The overall racing experience has the solid gameplay that has given the series its longevity. The addition of bikes and new racers helps freshen things up some. The online features are welcome additions that should ensure the game remains in heavy rotation in people’s Wiis for a good long while. All told, we were pleased by what we saw of Mario Kart Wii. We’re eager to spend some quality time with the various game modes and online features to see how they all pan out.

Perhaps one of the main selling points of the game after the ubiquitous Mario is the plastic steering wheel that will come with the game. Insert a Nintendo Wii controller into the back and you have a wireless wheel with which to drive. Although some may disagree, Gizmodo comments on the reaction of the MTV blog on the device and whether it is better than the normal controller on its own.

My buddy Stephen T over at MTV’s Multiplayer blog scored the first video demo of the Wii Wheel in Mario Kart Wii game play. Melvin at Nintendo shows him how to insert a Wiimote into the Wheel, then head to the races. Watch T manage to execute a wheelie and a powerslide, then—in the second video in the link below—try the same manoeuvring sans Wheel, with far less enthusiasm. He doesn’t say whether or not it’s a true winner or a waste of plastic, but my guess is, he likes it better than this guy. His biggest gripe? No horn to honk, Maggie Simpson style.

Regardless, Mario Kart Wii looks set to break even more records for Nintendo and will be released next month. In the meantime, check out the trailer below and pre-order your copy here.

When a movie is successful it’s likely that sooner or later a computer game based on the film will be released. Sometimes it happens the other way round as well. vice versa is true as well. Such is the case with the Godfather.

Everyone is familiar with the mafia movie classic, and there was much excitement when news of a game materialized more than three decades after the film’s release. The Godfather: Blackhand Edition for the Nintendo Wii appears to have met all expectations.

The game is also available on the PC, PS2 and other platforms, but the one thing that makes the Nintendo Wii version different from the rest are its controls. Gamespot also reports that besides the controls, the Wii version has some new features as well.

In addition to the new controls, the Wii version of the game contains a good helping of new missions, as well as new and redesigned locations. The added content is a nice bonus, but most of it is in no way integral to the rest of the game.

Maybe the graphics are unimpressive graphics compared to other platforms, but the gameplay and controls looks more than enough to put the Wii version out ahead. The video below is enough to make anyone realize that.

Photo: © Thug Luv