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Based on the TV series, Lost: Via Domus captures the spirit of the show but fails to create a decent game. Playing as a new character on the island, your story intertwines with events from seasons one and two of the show. Ostensibly an old-fashioned adventure game, Lost gets you speaking to characters, solving puzzles and exploring the island.

In theory, this should be great. But clunky and anachronistic gameplay - instant death and invisible barriers rear their aged heads - quell enthusiasm. The flashbacks work well, though, not least because they advance the story - the strongest aspect of the game. But the production values are mixed.

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The market for PSP racers is already congested but this curiously titled conversion of a 360 original still manages to make an impact. With 44 vehicles and 40-odd tracks littered with falling rocks and debris from previous races, there’s plenty to get your teeth into.

The point-to-point structure provides a clear objective, but Demolition Derby tracks and blistering ragdoll stunt events encourage more suicidal driving to rack up the really big scores. Admittedly, crash-centric action like this has already been done by the Burnout series - but there’s a lot more variety on display here and the handling and graphics are even more impressive on a handheld. Boy racers should love it.

Nintendo launched a new Wii Channel in its homeland Japan today according to IGN, called the Television Friend Channel, or Terebi no Tomo Channel, according to IGN. Like the Mii Contest Channel, Everybody Votes Channel, and etc. before it, it’s available for download free of charge.

As you’d expect, the Channel adds a television program guide to Wii, with program information offered up to one week before airing and searches possible by genre and key words. Although it doesn’t matter much to the rest of the world, it covers Chijou Digital, Chijou Analogue, BS Digital and BS Analogue broadcasts.

There’s Nintendo style though, with a ’stamp’ feature allowing you to highlight programs of interest with a Mii-themed stamp, and to be alerted to those highlighted by your friends and family. These are also tracked and the Wii will rate programs out of five stars based on viewer interest.

Some more neat functionality is employed, with the Wii able to send out alerts to mobile phones or email addresses, and the Wii Remote able to operate as a TV remote for channel surfing and volume control. Nintendo achieves this by having the Wii Sensor Bar send out a signal which is magically bounced off a wall and transmitted back to the TV.

Unfortunately, the chances of the Channel making its way to Australia might be slim, with Nintendo of Europe telling Eurogamer that there are “no plans for Europe.”

Source: aussie-nintendo.com

The numbers are startling: According to videogame tracking site VG Chartz, Nintendo has sold an astonishing 20.9 million Wii game consoles worldwide, while Microsoft has sold 16.9 million Xbox 360s and Sony has managed to move just 9.8 million PlayStation 3s (PS3).Yet before the PS3 launched in November 2006, many respectable gaming pundits were convinced Sony would retain its decade-long domination of console gaming. Sure, the PS3 was expensive, but it was loaded with features, like high-definition DVD playback and a hyper-fast 3.2 gigahertz processor.

Nintendo’s Wii, on the other hand, was so pathetically underpowered that it couldn’t even display high-definition graphics. Sure, it had an innovative, motion-sensitive controller, but to a lot of people, that just sounded gimmicky. Before its worldwide launch in November 2006, lots of smart people thought the Wii would be a niche product, appealing primarily to young children.
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Japanese video games group Nintendo hopes to prise British couch potatoes off the sofa and help them get into shape with the launch of a new version of its bestselling Wii console in the spring.

Video game players are traditionally to be found hunched over their computers but Wii Fit, which will hit European stores on April 25, is designed to give them a proper workout.

With obesity reaching critical levels in the UK, the Wii Fit may provide some people with an enjoyable alternative to visiting the gym. As it is designed to be used in the comfort - and seclusion - of a person’s home, it allows the unfit to get back into shape without the embarrassment of attending exercise classes as a beginner.
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