Homebrew coder luccax has released a new Wiibrew app called WiiWizard. This PC utility is a Visual Studio template for the Nintedo Wii. It will let you install a Wii application template inside your Visual Studio (Express) 2008.


Download: WiiWizard v1.1a

If you're both a Windows Vista user and a Wii homebrew fan, take note: Brakken and cybermind have some good news for you regarding the WriteELF homebrew application for the Wii. That's not the only new feature available in WriteELF v1.6, though. Turn to the full article after the jump for more details.

Download: WriteELF v1.6

If you've always wanted to get the Wii experience on your trusty PC, here's one way of doing it. Deviant Art contributor allewund took the easy trip to Wii-ified PC avenue by hand-crafting 18 cursor images based on the Nintendo Wii cursor appearances. Each one supports transparency effects, so that it would look great on LCD and high contrast monitors.

While most of the cursors are relatively static, he does provide a few animated ones to choose from so they don't get boring quick. The cursor set has been designed over Windows XP, and we've tried our luck with a couple just for kicks. We're not sure if this cursor set will work on Windows Vista as intended, but they go great with a certain Wii skin available for Windows XP.

They don't come with a cursor profile, however, so you'd have to assign each cursor manually after extracting the files to the universal cursor directory (that's the Cursors folder just under Windows). And we warn you, some non-Wii-heads installed this set together with the aforementioned skin, and lost the resolve to stave off buying a Wii as they originally planned.

Renowned game developer and Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi recently expressed his distaste for former Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Ken Kutaragi, criticized Microsoft's marketing strategy in Japan, and expressed no plans to make games for the Nintendo Wii as of yet.

The founder of, arguably, the most successful RPG franchise in history told Electronic Gaming Monthly that he didn't like Kutaragi and his creation, the Sony PlayStation 3. "The machine's architecture is tricky, and I don't like Ken Kutaragi," says Sakaguchi. He offered no explanation as to why he's no fan of the father of the PlayStation line of game systems.

When asked about Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sakaguchi said he found the games in the platform far superior to those of its rival's. Microsoft's problem, he says, is how to reach out to Japanese consumers. He said Gears of War is a great title but nobody knows what it's about. He then describe the Windows Vista commercial as a "terrible" one.

Next on the plate was Nintendo. Amazingly, Sakaguchi had a high regard for the Wii. He said "The system is intriguing, but right now, I have no plans on making a game for the Wii."

 

Here's a nice little idea which demonstrated how XNA development tools can work in conjunction with a Wiimote to create cute results in a PC. The Wiimote is able to control a flock of graphical butterflies by getting Windows Vista to talk with the controller.

M.B. Burke of MSDN says it's fairly simple on the programming part. What held him up for a while was the fact that the Windows Vista stack doesn't recognize the Wiimote signal. He had to look for four days for one that has a stack that's compatible and he found that in Toshiba. With a EPoX BT-DG05A Bluetooth USB Dongle, all was set.

Sadly, though, the Wiimote-controlled butterfly application doesn't work if you try to run it on the Xbox 360. Still, the idea is a nice demonstration of possibilities. And if we know tech-heads like we do, it's a given that they'll come up with a really crazy brew one of these days. To know how exactly everything was done, follow the read URL.

Time for your daily fix of the WiiCR Team's latest media player app release. Going hand-in-hand with their WiiCR player, the Windows Vista skin WiinVi just got an upgrade. The theme is now up in v0.3 Alpha and one of the biggest features is that you can easily allow you to select different drives through the interface by clicking on the computer icon on the QuickLaunch Bar.

Here's the full changelog for the WiinVi v0.3 Alpha theme:

• Icon Backgrounds Transparent
• Made the Forward and Backward buttons on the image page stay mostly still
• Made the Image on Imageview Clickable (jumps to next Image)
• Made mp3 player look like rest of the theme
• Several other random tweaks and fixes
• No Internet Radio yet

Note that you first need to have a copy of the WiiCR media player itself installed. Once that's done:

1. Extract the files in the WiinVi v0.3 Alpha theme to the themes directory (C:Program Filesxampphtdocswmcthemes)
2. Access the Settings section in WiiCR
3. Click the Theme Selection Box, Change the Value to the Theme you want to use
4. Press the "Change Theme" button

Download: [WiinVi v0.3 Alpha]

Once again, the ever-updating WiiCR Team is back with another new release for their media player app for the Nintendo Wii. This time, they've released WiinVi 0.2 alpha, a theme for WiiCR that sports a fetching Windows Vista look. Read on for the changelog and installation instructions.

Changelog

• Start Menu fixed
• Impressions Highlight certain elements
• Quicklaunch added for Home
• Still no directory select (sorry)

Installation

Unzip the 'Wiipaper' folder to '/path/to/xampp/htdocs/wmc/themes/'.
You will know you're in the right place when you see the
folder for the default theme named 'icons1'.

Next open up 'config.pl'. Found in '/path/to/xampp/htdocs/wmc/config.pl'.
And change this line:
$theme         = "icons1";
to
$theme         = "Wiipaper";

For the latest version of WiiCR, check out this earlier QJ article.

Download: [WiinVi 0.2 Alpha]

We all know what fanboys think about the consoles of their choice (as well as their thoughts about the others). The question is what do Japanese game developers think about  the next-gen consoles? Famitsu Mag took it upon themselves to ask 58 game developers (directors, programmers and designers) from 19 game companies about next-gen consoles and here are the results.

Which next-gen console will send cash registers ringing:

• Wii (60%)
• PS3 (37%)
• Xbox 360's (3%)

Which system they prefer for game development:

• Wii (63%)
• PS3 (32%)
• Xbox 360's (5%)

Which next-gen console they want for Christmas:

• Wii (49%)
• PS3 (42%)
• Xbox 360 (9%)

The rest of the survey results await after the jump.