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Nintendo is now including the Wii Remote Jacket for the Wii Remotes in all new hardware being shipped. For Wii owners who purchased their systems prior to this addition, we are offering to send free Wii Remote Jackets for their existing Wii Remotes.

Once your Wii Remote Jacket has shipped, you will receive a confirmation email from Nintendo. After that point, it may still take another 5 to 10 days for delivery depending on your location. Please do not contact Nintendo regarding your Wii Remote Jacket order until after that time period has passed.

We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your interest in our products.

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WiiWii.tv writes “Mein Gott! We’ve just returned from visiting the Nintendo HQ in Frankfurt, Germany, and after playing Mario Kart Wii that’s the only possible reaction we could have. Simply put, the game’s AMAZING, and you, my friends, are going to LOVE it.

After the jump is a list of our early impressions, written in no particular order of preference (except the last one, which is about the Wii Wheel). There’s a lot of lovely stuff packed into this game, and we wanted to get it all written down before it was lost in a haze of jetlag and complimentary booze.

If you’re looking for a one-sentence summary, however, then look no further. We’d say that Nintendo had been inspired by freewheeling insanity of Motorstorm on the PS3, but they’ve made a better game in the process. Game is released here in Europe on April 11th, one day after its launch in Japan.”

A feature of the Wii that has older gamers excited is the Virtual Console. This is software coupled with a download service that enables users to play games of past eras. Games from older Nintendo consoles such as the Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo and Nintendo Entertainment System will be available for a small fee. Not only this but others such as the Sega Genesis (aka Mega Drive) and TurboGFX 16 will also feature.

It’s been stated that not every game for these systems will be available, but a “Best of” selection. Still the virtual console has great potential, especially if these retro games are playable in multiplayer online. Imagine being able to play classics such as Street Fighter 2 and Mario Kart against friends over the Internet. The technology to do this already exists on the PC through pieces of software called emulators, but network play is often a hit and miss experience plagued with lag and glitches.

The Virtual Console won’t all be about retro-gaming though. Nintendo say that independent developers with lower budgets can also release games for it. These will be games that show off their creativity, smaller in scale but hopefully still fun to play. Nintendo are keen for independent creators to make their games on the Wii, the Wii software development kit (SDK) needed to make the games costs a fraction of the equivalents for Sony’s and Microsoft’s machines. Taking this into account we could see some very strange little games on the Wii in future, the possibilities are excellent.

The downloaded games can be stored in a number of ways. The primary option is the 512MB of flash memory inside the Wii. There are also USB ports on the Wii allowing external storage devices. Lastly there are slots for SD memory cards.

The ‘classic’ style controller will be used to play these games.