If you're shopping for one of us this holiday season, here's a quick guide to a few good gift ideas.
Posts with tag wii
TUAW Buyers Guide: Gifts for gamers
If you're shopping for one of us this holiday season, here's a quick guide to a few good gift ideas.
Wii Transfer maker giving away a Wii
If you're anything like me, and I know you are, you dream of playing Super Mario Galaxy but refuse to stand in line to buy a Wii (or pay a ridiculous amount for one, or wake up early to get one... ok, I'm cheap and lazy. Are you happy now?). Luckily for us, Riverfolder Software is giving a Wii away on December 15th to one lucky person.Riverfold, it should be pointed out, is the maker of Wii Transfer, my favorite piece of software that I have absolutely no use for (but with a little luck I soon might!). Wii Transfer allows you to stream/play all sorts of media from your Mac onto your Wii, and it only costs $19.
You don't care about that though, you want to know how you can win a Wii! Simple: if you have a Twitter account simply send a message to @wii and you'll be entered (that's what I did, in the interest of full disclosure). If you don't have a Twitter account it is obvious that you lack whimsy in your life, but don't fret you needn't be whimsical to enter this content. Simply head on over to this website and enter your email, and an email of a friend, and you're all set.
No purchase is necessary, but if you do win the Wii I think you should get yourself a copy of Wii Transfer. It is a very cool app, after-all.
Wii Transfer 2.5
I want a Wii, it is true, and one of the reasons I want one (other than the fact that it is awesome) is a small app called Wii Transfer. Wii Transfer is a Mac app that lets you get your media onto your Wii (movies, audio, pictures) amongst other things (and don't forget to check our interview with Manton Reese, Wii Transfer's creator).
Wii Transfer 2.5 adds a few neat functions. You can browse your Safari and Firefox bookmarks on the Wii's browser, stream movies, and set background music for picture slideshows.
Wii Transfer 2.5 costs $19 and there is a demo with limited functionality available.
Wii Transfer 2.3
When I was at WWDC I had the pleasure of sitting down with Manton Reece, developer of Wii Transfer, and chatting about his cool little application. He showed off a version that wasn't quite ready for prime-time during the interview, but now it is available for download.Wii Transfer, in case you don't recall, allows you to access media from your Mac on your Wii. It also converts movies you might have on your Mac into a format that will play on your Wii. New in Wii Transfer 2.3 is:
- Playback of unprotected AAC's is supported
- UI has been overhauled
- Better use of the Wii remote button
- A snazzy new icon
Video: Wii Transfer
We've covered Wii Transfer before, and Riverfold has a nice video demo as well, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see the new version in action.
Oh, and here's a link to the .mov version.
Video: Unity, the game dev tool for Macs
We've covered Unity before, but video speaks louder than words, so we were happy to have a demo of some incredible features in the latest version. Unity is a game dev tool, only for Macintosh, that allows you to create Mac games, Dashboard widget games, PC games, web games embedded on a page and (eventually) Wii games. What's really impressive about Unity is the ease-of-use. The FPS you'll see in the video was created by a 15-year-old with no previous programming experience-- using an eMac. Also, be sure to stay tuned on Monday for another video with team Unity as they unveil some amazing new features.
Again, here's the .mov version for everyone to enjoy in stutter-free format.
The Economist on Apple's journey as a lesson to other companies
The Economist has published an article that explores some of the lessons other companies can learn from Apple's journey through the industry, as well as it's unique practices towards product design and customer relations. Specifically, the article outlines four lessons other companies should take notes on, including the fact that some of Apple's innovation comes both from without and within, highlighting the fact that some of its strongest products like Mac OS X and the iPod are either built on the foundation from open source (Mac OS X's BSD Unix core), or originally conceived by an outside consultant (like the iPod). Another great lesson the article mentions is an ability to not listen to customers or the market when one's instincts say otherwise. Both the iPod and Nintendo's Wii are cited here: while the iPod was originally criticized for being too expensive of a gadget, the market has clearly spoken otherwise. In the case of Nintendo's wildly successful Wii, the company was criticized for betting on a portion of the market that was more or less completely ignored by the other video game manufacturers: non-gamers who haven't picked up a console yet.It's a good read that takes a realistic approach while spotlighting some of the lessons that companies can learn from Apple's wild success in recent years.
Thanks Adam
Wii Loop Machine
We have previously mentioned several fun uses of the Wiimote with your Mac. The Wii Loop Machine by Yann Seznec is nifty little application for controlling music loops (similar to those in Garageband) using the Wiimote. You can select different loops with the buttons and control playback by moving the Wiimote around in space. As you can see in the video, it becomes a kind of Wii-dance, and despite being rather dorky also looks sort of fun. All of this is made possible by aka.objects developed by Masayuki Akamatsu, which also works with the Apple Remote and other devices as well.
After seeing this for the first time, I couldn't help but think that next we need a Wiimote controlled Mac theremin!
Mii Transfer: Get Your Mii on Your Mac
I'm one of those sad souls who's dying to pick up a Nintendo Wii, but never can find one in stock. For those of you lucky enough to have one you might like to check out Mii Transfer from Mike Cohen. Says Mike, "Mii Transfer is a tiny utility which lets you copy your Miis from your Wii Remote to your computer so you can share them on sites such as MiiPlaza.net and edit them using Mii Editor." Well as soon as find a Wii, at least I know my Mii will be well looked after.Mii Transfer is open source and a free download from Mike's site.
[Via MacMegasite]
Update: Unfortunately, this seems not to be working for people. It would perhaps be best to contact Mike Cohen directly.
Wii Transfer 2.0
It seems like only yesterday when I first wrote about Wii Transfer, and now it is a 2.0 app. My how times are changing. Wii Transfer 2.0 adds some very cool features to its ability to encode videos from your Mac for playing on the Wii. 2.0 offers:- The ability to stream your music from your Mac to your Wii
- Share your photos from your Mac to your Wii
- Lots of bug fixes, and a new UI
Mac Gaming with a Wii-mote
We've had several Wii-mote and Mac related posts so far, but most have been of the just because we can sort. For instance, DarwiinRemote is mostly a proof of concept and the WiiSaber is a rather short-lived diversion. Now, however, somebody actually has a Wii-mote working as a controller for a Mac game (engine). Rob Terrell has a blog post about getting the Wii-mote working to control an on-screen crossbow (within the Torque Gaming Engine) as you can see above (a higher definition QuickTime video is on his site). Rob says that the "next step is to get a homemade IR sensor bar on the Mac." Pretty nifty I'd say and a hearty TUAW attaboy, Rob!
[Via DaringFireball]
Make movies for your Wii with your Mac
Nintendo and Apple seem to both ignite the same sort of passion in their customers, and I imagine that the Venn diagram that shows Apple users and Nintendo users has much overlap. Hence, I am sure many of you are trying to get movies from your Mac onto you Wii for your Wii viewing pleasure.
Riverfold Software has released Wii Transfer, a $9 app that will not only convert your movies into a Wii compatible format, but it will also move the movie file onto the SD Card of your choice (which must be connected to your Mac at the time). There is a 15 second screencast so you can see Wii Transfer in action on the Wii Transfer page.
If you're cheap (and judging from the comments we get whenever we post about some app a developer has the audacity to charge for, you are) MAKE has the skinny on how to create Wii compatible movies with a copy of Quicktime Pro (though if you are only looking to make Wii playable movies and you don't have a license for QT Pro, Wii Transfer is much more economical).
DarwiinRemote
What do you get when you take a Mac and add the Nintendo Wiimote? Why, DarwiinRemote, of course. This little app, which is still rough around the corners, lets you use your Wiimote (that being the new controller that comes with Nintendo's next gen console, the Wii) and use it as if it were an Apple Remote (only on Macs that have an IR sensor of course).
[via Digg]
Useful? Not really. Cool? You bet.
Update: It would seem the Wiimote uses Bluetooth, so most Macs can join in on the fun. Thanks to everyone in the comments for correcting me.
