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The website has been relaunched today with a completely new look and feel to reflect the game’s iconic art style. F1 fans visiting the website will be able to view all of the videos and screenshots that have been released for F1 2009 and get the latest news about the game. Gamers can also become a fan of ‘F1 Games from Codemasters’ on Facebook and follow @formula1game on Twitter for the latest news and updates about the F1 2009.

Wiipreorder.co.uk

Stock of the popular Wii Fit has been in short supply since its launch in April 2008, resulting in hordes of disgruntled shoppers trying to track down this elusive ‘must have’ game for their kids. Now, they can do so easily and cut out much of the ‘legwork’.

The site automatically checks online retailers – such as Amazon, Game, Dixons and Comet – for stock and immediately notifies its user of availability. Free to use, the service provides a full list of retailers with their current stock situation; buying tips; email alerts; a previous stock history of individual products so users can track past trends and potentially calculate when new stock is due to arrive; and an invaluable real-time auto alert webpage. The user can leave the Wii Fit alert page open on their desktop so they are immediately notified of new stock with a pop message or audio alarm. This is an essential resource when stock can run out in minutes!

Michael Green, site founder of Wiipreorder.co.uk says: “It seems that ‘pester power’ is one of the strongest ever marketing tools and, with many stressed-out parents desperately trying to avoid disappointed children on Christmas day, stock shortages are likely to continue beyond the festive season. Stock will often sell in minutes, especially at the RRP of £69.99, and our website gives shoppers an essential competitive advantage in buying before everything disappears!”

“To date, Wiipreorder.co.uk has helped over 3,000 people buy their Wii in time to avoid the festive fall-out.”

Developed in collaboration with fitness experts “EA Sports Active” is perfect for the whole family, though designed specifically for women seeking a simple, fun and cost-effective way to achieve a healthy lifestyle. The product will be the first in a new line of EA Sports fitness and Sports performance products in development to improve the well-being of people of all ages.

“EA Sports Active” features a wide variety of interactive activities combined into a circuit that target both the upper and lower body as well as cardio, and supports two players to allow family or friends to get fit together. The software will provide a new level of motivation with on-screen, real-time feedback on your workout such as calories burned, while also allowing you to adjust intensity levels. “EA Sports Active” will include two specially-designed leg straps that hold the Wii’s Nunchuk controller to track lower body movements, as well as a resistance band to support a number of upper body strength training exercises.
“EA Sports Active” features a “30 Day Challenge,” a fitness road map for players to reach their fitness goals with the guidance of a virtual trainer. The Challenge provides a new, 20-minute workout every time a player exercises, including clear instruction, feedback on technique and positive encouragement throughout the workout. Each circuit will feel different and increase in intensity as fitness levels improve to help you work up a sweat and work toward your fitness goals. Users can also create their own custom workouts that vary in activity, duration and intensity, and the Wii Balance Board will add functionality to many exercises.

Using two Wii Remotes as virtual pom-poms, you can lead your own cheerleading squad to victory with a soundtrack of smoking-hot music featuring chart-topping artists such as pop sensation Natasha Bedingfield, US rockers Paramore and 70s disco darlings KC & The Sunshine Band.

Below we have a sample of what the track list includes:
• Walking On Sunshine – Aly & AJ
• It Takes Two – Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock
• If You’re Gonna Jump (Paul Oakenfold Remix) – Natasha Bedingfield
• Push It To the Limit – Corbin Bleu
• I Want Candy – Bow Wow Wow
• On Top Of The World – Boys Like Girls
• The Great Escape – Boys Like Girls
• Godspeed – BT
• Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) – C+C Music Factory
• Eye Of The Tiger (Sunset Crew Radio Mix) – Crew 7
• Come Clean – Hilary Duff
• Unbelievable – EMF

We Cheer gives players the chance to jump, shout and shake it all about, just like a real cheerleader. Using the motion-sensing abilities of the Wii Remote, wannabe cheerleaders follow on-screen commands to perform a variety of high-energy spins, kicks and twists, while taking part in professionally choreographed routines.

We Cheer will be exclusively available for Nintendo Wii throughout Europe in early 2009.

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Using the power of Lithium Polymer battery packs, the InCharge for Wii provides up to 25 hours of battery life on a full charge and is 50% lighter than other charge solutions for Wii. The InCharge, which retails for $34.99 in the US, uses a contactless inductive charging solution rather than metal contacts to charge each Wii remote. With the InCharge, gamers can save money on batteries as well as eliminate complications that arise from dirty or greasy battery contacts that occur with other Wii chargers.

No release date for UK/Europe has been announced.

I’d been looking forward to this for a while now – I’d enjoyed the 2008 version of Madden on the Wii, found it to be a fun game, with good detail and just enough of a balance between playing and the replays and stats that us boys seem to like. So I hoped that Madden NFL 09 would be an improvement on this. Not on the Wii it’s not!

EA have decided that the Wii version of Madden needed making cuter – and that’s why the Mii’s have become involved as player screens use them, and so does any indication of Madden with a Mii version of him.  Any spare Mii’s get involved as well as the referee.  And there’s more.

Add into the mix that if you score a touchdown or complete a particularly impressive play such as an interception, then you can help the particular players rating by “celebrating” with the Wiimote.  Swing your arms around in the air as much as possible and get the ratings boost.

These sort of changes/additions to the game do mar what is basically a similar version of the 2008 Madden, with a few other changes such as a neater play access system, and a fun “5 on 5″ muck-about play option.

Online access is new to this version and is one of the saving graces as it strips away a certain amount of the more childish elements.  Barely any lag, and a number of different play options such as “Casual” or “Competitive”, the online version helps this version step up a level and gives it a longer life-span.

If you have Madden NFL 08 on the Wii already then I wouldn’t bother to upgrade unless you have really been looking forward to the online option.  In fact just get it for that, as of the time of writing, the online area is pretty sparse of players….

NBA Live 08 comes with all of the play options that you would expect, you can jump straight in with the Play Now option, choosing from any of the current NBA teams, international teams and fantasy line-ups such as “Best of the 1980s” and “Adidas”.

You can also start a Play mode such as a Season, an All-Star Weekend, just the Playoffs or what is called the Superstar Challenge where you take control of various players at differing stages of games with the challenge of scoring a certain number of points, etc.

Playing against other people should of course be the best challenge, and NBA Live 08 not only gives you the chance to get you and up to three of your mates on the court at the same time, but of course it also comes with Online play.

The control system has two options, you can play with the Wii remote only where the players movement is handled by the Wii, and you just control shooting or trying to swipe for the ball. You can also attach the Nunchuk and use that to control your players movement, which gives a much better feeling of immersion in the game.

The game feels nicely put together, though it is slightly let down by the occasional slow reaction to wii remote moves.