El boom que esta experimentando el airsoft, ha hecho que los post, review, artículos, etc… en internet, se han multiplicado y a dia de hoy los podemos encontrar en varios idiomas. Por mis propias circunstancias entiendo, escribo y hablo perfectamente el francés.

Aprovechando esta circunstancia, navego bastante por foros y páginas webs francófonas y encuentro bastantes artículos interesantes. Uno de los objetivos de internet es compartir el conocimiento y eso es lo que voy hacer.

De vez en cuando traduciré artículos franceses sobre el airsoft que por su contenido creo que sería interesante para nuestra comunidad española e hispano parlante en general.

Hoy tocara traducir un artículo muy interesante sobre el corazón de la replica: EL GEARBOX.

Fuente: France-Airsoft

Que es un Gearbox?

El Gearbox es una caja metálica en la cual está todo el mecanismo que permite transformar el movimiento rotativo, proporcionado por el motor, en descargas de aire comprimido dentro del cañón de la réplica para propulsar las bbs.

(si no funciona la animacion, pinchar sobre la imagen)

Vamos a ver de que esta compuesto el Gearbox.

Los Gears (engranaje o rueda dentada).

Función: transmitir la potencia del motor al piston compresor de aire. El motor hace girar el Gear motor, este mismo hace girar el Gear intermedio y este hace lo mismo al Gear Piston  para dar el movimiento al piston compresor de aire. Las características del movimiento rotativo (rotación por minuto, etc…) pueden ser modificadas según los engranajes elegidos .

Características físicas: Los engranajes están hechos de metal. Las superficies y los dientes difieren según los modelos.

Posibles modificaciones: Se pueden cambiar los gears, siempre y cuando se respectan las posiciones de cada uno y que correspondan a la réplica.

Las Shims o arandelas de engranajes

Las shims son pequeñas arandelas que se utilizan para fijar, sincronizar y evitar que los engranajes (gears) se rocen entre si cuando están superpuestos y para dejar los Bushing a la misma altura.

Estas arandelas están hechas en metal y tienen diámetros y grosores diferentes (entre 0.15 y 0.5mm).

ATENCION: Cambiar o ajustar esas arandelas no es una tarea fácil. Solo se suelen tocar cuando se reajustan en una puesta a punto, cuando se cambian los engranajes por otros nuevos o bien cuando realizamos un upgrade al Gearbox, en este caso es imprescindible reajustar las arandelas o cambiarlas, sea para un upgrade de torque ( fuerza ) o de speed ( velocidad ) ya que tanto para la velocidad o el par, vamos a transmitir mucha energía con motores mas potentes.

En la operación de desmontaje del GearBox, cuando se quiten los engranajes, se recomienda observar cuantas arandelas hay de cada lado de los engranajes, su grosor y su diámetro para que cuando se vuelva a montar el GearBox todo vuelva a encajar y cerrar correctamente.

Los Bushings

Función: Mantener alineados y centrados los engranajes entre ellos, dentro del GeaBox. El eje de cada engranaje es sujetado por un bushing de cada lado del GearBox, 6 en total. El bushing permite el giro del eje del engranaje sin fricciones con el, con el fin de evitar un sobre uso del mismo y su deterioro.

Características físicas: Los bushings están hechos en plástico rígido o en metal. El interior esta preparado para recibir el eje del engranaje y el exterior esta concebido para que se ajuste fuertemente a la pared interior del GearBox.

Bushings metalicos con rodamientos

Posibles modificaciones: La mayoría de los bushings que vienen en la mayoría de las replicas son de plástico y se pueden cambiar por otros de metal, auto lubricantes, con rodamientos que reduce el frotamiento entre las piezas de metal pero siendo mas frágiles. Se suelen cambiar estas piezas cuando se hace un upgrade del GearBox para que los bushings aguanten bien el aumento de potencia del nuevo muelle.

Longevidad: El hecho que estén bien ajustados dentro del GearBox, hace que los bushings tengan un deterioro casi nulo a pesar de la tensión que sufren durante el uso de la replica.

Anti-Reversal Latch

Función: Impide que los engranajes giren en el sentido contrario al previsto para el motor por el empuje del muelle después del disparo y asi estar listo para el próximo. Como podéis ver en la foto, este seguro esta puesto sobre el Gear Motor.

Características físicas: Es una simple cuña de acero situado sobre un eje libre y mantenida contra el Gear Motor por medio de un pequeño resorte.

Posibles modificaciones: Casi nulas. Gracias a su posición, es 100% eficaz sin sufrir ningún esfuerzo y por lo tanto no es necesario cambiarla o modificarla. Ciertos kits de modificación del GearBox vienen con esta pieza reforzada debido a las fuertes fuerzas a las cuales esta sujeta esa pieza después de un upgrade.

Longevidad: Bien puesta, no sufre casi ningún deterioro excepto en el FAMAS (Meroveo: doy fe de ello).

Tappet Plate

Función: Dejar la BBs entrar en la cámara y cerrar herméticamente  el espacio entre el Gearbox y el cañón con la ayuda del Nozzle.

A cada ciclo del Gear Piston el Tappet plate retrocede para dejar entrar la BBs gracias a una cuña  enganchada al engranaje piston y vuelve a sus posición inicial, para disparar, gracias a otra cuña situada a la mitad del Tappet Plate y enganchada a un resorte.

Tappet Plate con Nozzle y resorte

Características físicas: Es una pieza de policarbonato, en forma de L alargada. Su  parte mas pequeña esta delante del GearBox y tiene una pequeña hendidura redonda para sujetar el Nozzle. En La parte contraria, hay un gancho que se coloca sobre el Gear Piston, y en el medio una cuña que esta sujeta a un resorte.

Posibles modificaciones: No hay necesidad de cambiar la pieza excepto si se rompe o si se aumenta la cadencia de los mecanismos y entonces se necesitara una versión reforzada.

Longevidad: Su forma en L  y su función que la hace plegarse en parte a cada disparo, fragiliza la pieza con el tiempo. Las roturas son corrientes en la junción con el Gear Piston y el gancho después de un uso intensivo o modificaciones del GearBox sin reforzar.

En la 2º parte de esta review traducida y ampliada, hablaremos: del Nozzle, el piston, la cabeza de piston, el cilindro, cabeza de cilindro, el muelle y la guia del muelle.

Y en la 3º parte: El interruptor electrico, el cut off lever, carcasa del GearBox, selector plate y como extras una explicacion sencilla del Hop-Up y del motor.

17th June 2006

Went for a ride in the car today. Noticed a clunk coming from under the car on rare occasions. I will have to check out the centre support bearing carrier as I think it is the prop-shaft hitting the floor but I can’t be sure yet. I applied a heat gun to the glued on window winder this morning and managed to remove it without doing any obvious damage to the winder nor the door panel which is a big relief. I still have to remove the rest of the glue from the inside of the winder before I can refit it but that should not be too hard. I spent some of my birthday money on a new cordless drill that has three batteries and I put it to good use this afternoon cleaning out the channel round the boot opening but I still only managed three out of the four sides, there was a lot of rust and bodyfiller to remove. I think I may actually have to remove the boot lid to get at the top edge. I have now bought or ordered top and bottom ball joints and polyurethane bushings all round to give the front suspension a complete going over. The rear will be done later although I did win a new pair of trailing arm bushes (the big ones) cheaply on eBay the other day. They are over £40 each in polyurethane so I’ll stick with these rubber ones. Noticed that the passenger seatbelt storage hook has fallen off and I can’t find it which is a pain.

One of the most commonly-asked questions on our Shooters Forum is “what diameter bushing should I use with my neck-sizing die?” While we recommend that users obtain at least two bushings, you still have to know where to start. For hunting ammo and gas guns, we still recommend choosing a bushing that is 2 or 3 thousandths smaller than the neck diameter of a loaded round. However, in a bolt-action benchrest gun, you may well get superior accuracy with less neck tension. Larry Isenhour recently set a spectacular 50-5X 600-yard IBS record using very light tension — Larry employed a .268″ bushing for a .2695″ loaded round. At the NRA Annual meeting we discussed neck bushings during our visit to the Redding Reloading booth. It turns out that Redding has changed its recommendations for benchrest neck sizing, and now recommends that you chose a bushing that yields less tension. In the video below Patrick Ryan of Redding explains how to measure your cartridge brass and select the proper bushing diameter. Patrick also reviews some new Redding products for 2009.

We were recently asked: “What size neck bushing is best for Lapua 6mmBR brass in a ‘no-turn’ chamber?” The questioner planned to purchase a Redding Type ‘S’ full-length sizing die with neck bushings. The quick answer is that one should probably get both 0.266 and 0.267 bushings and see what works best. A loaded 6BR round with an unturned neck will typically run about 0.2692-0.2697 (depending on the bullet). A 0.267 neck bushing, after springback, will give about 0.0015 tension which can work well in a bolt gun. In a gas gun, you might want .003 or more tension.

Alternative to Bushings — Honed Full-Length dies
Conventional, non-bushing full-length sizing dies can create ultra-accurate ammo with very low run-out. For some applications, we prefer a non-bushing FL die over a bushing die — so long as the neck tension is correct. But many FL dies have an undersized neck diameter so you end up with excess neck tension, and you work the brass excessively. Forster offers a simple, inexpensive solution — honing the neck diameter to whatever size you want.

If you purchase a Forster non-bushing, full-length sizing die, Forster will hone the neck dimension to your specs for about $10.00 extra. This way you can have a FL die that provides the right amount of tension for your particular load. Forster dies are relatively inexpensive so you can afford to have a couple of FL dies with necks honed to different diameters — such as 0.266″ and 0.267″ for a no-turn 6mmBR. The die itself is fairly inexpensive — currently Sinclair Int’l charges $32.00 for a Forster 6mmBR full-length sizing die (item FP6BRFL).

Forster FL dies, necks honed to .265″, .266″, and .267″.

Steve Rasmussen of IowaHighPower.com gave this a try. In fact, he had three dies made — each with a different neck dimension. Here’s his report: “My original Forster 6BR FL die sized the necks down a lot, less than 0.260″, .256″ if I recall correctly. I sent my die in and asked if they could supply two more FL dies (for three total) to have the necks honed to 0.265″, 0.266″, and 0.267″. The cost was $10 for my supplied die and $38.50 plus $10.00 for each additional die. Return shipping was $11.00 via USPS Priority Mail.

The table below shows the neck diameter range of 10 sized cases using each die. Brass springback after sizing is running 1 to 1.3 thousandths. My loaded rounds are running 0.2697-0.2699 using Lapua I bought last year. So far the dies are working well. I sized 80 cases with the 0.266″ necked die. The shoulder is running 0.4582″ and 0.300″ up from the base is 0.4684". I spun 20 of ‘em and 16 had a runout of one thousandth (0.001) and the other 4 at 1.5 thousandths (0.0015).”

KD 41780 Automotive Bushing Driver Tool

Question: I’m changing out trailing arm bushing on a 99 Honda Civic will this product help me? KD Tools KD 41780 Bushing Kit Product #: KD 41780

Answer: The KD Tools 41780 kit could help if the diameter of the bushing is no bigger than 1 3/8″ in diameter. Otherwise you may want to remove the arm and take it to an auto repair shop or automotive parts store like NAPA that has a press. A lot of auto technicians that are skilled with an air chisel, use that for removal and then press larger bushings back in with a press.

Ingersoll Rand IR 121K6 Automotive Air Chisel Tool

Schley Products has just came out with a tool designed specifically for this job. It is the SP 65100 Trailing Arm Kit pictured below.

Through bushings allow simple installation of cabling and ensure protection against contact with other internal parts. Safety and functionality are paramount in any electrical environment, and it is essential that the correct precautions are taken to avoid personnel injury and damage to equipment. Through bushings allow simple installation of cabling and ensure protection against contact with other internal parts.

Following the success of the B4-30 through bushing, and due to customer demand, Ter-Mate has now launched the bigger and equally versatile B4-50. The new B4-50 is larger than the B4-30 and allows increased interconnection and field connection for control panels and switchboards safely and efficiently.

The unit allows simple integration into Forms 3 and 4 Segregation, ensuring all functional units in incoming and outgoing terminals are separated from the busbar system. It also conforms to the material requirements of BS EN60439 the European technical standard for low-voltage switchgear and control gear assemblies. The B4-50 is manufactured from high quality, self extinguishing thermoplastic.

Its unique design makes it easy to install and provides the flexibility of housing four conductor sizes: 50 x 10, 40 x 10, 20 x 10 and 25 x 5mm. An insulating boot is also available, which provides increased protection for the through bushing and meets the requirements of Form 4 Type 5. Manufactured from flame retardant PVC, it can be customised to suit the user’s connection requirements.

Erstmal vorweg: Ja der Titel ist mit Absicht auf Klicks ausgelegt und nein hier gibt es keinen Wii ISO Loader zum Download. Die Intention des Geschriebenen ist ein wenig aus der Sicht eines ganz ziemlich normalen Users aufzuklären, was denn Rund um die WIi geschehen ist. Die Fragezeichen in Klammern deuten darauf hin, dass ich mir relativ unsicher mit dieser Aussage bin und diese noch Überprüft werden muss. Außerdem geht der Artikel nur wenig ins Detail, ist lange noch nicht fertig und inhaltliche Fehler können unmöglich ausgeschlossen werden. Wer Details wissen will, soll Google benutzen oder auf die unten angeführten Links (kommen noch mehr) klicken.

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Nun aber zum Thema. Wie Einige sicher schon mitbekommen haben, ist Nintendos aktuelle Heimkonsole “geknackt”. Schon wenige Wochen nach Erscheinen, war es möglich Kopien (egal welcher Art) abzuspielen. Also eigentlich das gleiche Spiel wie man es schon von anderen Konsolen kennt, nur etwas schneller und vorallem: extrem billig. Für unter 5€ kann sich jeder einen Chip für “frühe” Wii Konsolen (die vor Mitte 2007 gekauft wurden (?)) selber bauen. Frühe? Ja Nintendo hat darauf reagiert und neue DVD Laufwerke, die die wohl größte Schwachstelle darstellen, verbaut. Allerdings war der Karren schon in den Dreck gefahren und schon bald gab es neue, nun teurere und aufwändigere Chips. Das Katz und Maus Spiel hatte begonnen und läuft noch immer mehr oder weniger.

Richtig offen war die Konsole aber noch lange nicht. Nur “stupide” Kopien konnte man Spielen und  Homebrew, also selbstentwickelte Software, konnte nur auf die beschränkte Gamecube Hardware zugreifen. Viele suchten, rauften sich die Haare, taten das übliche eben. Bis zum 24C3, dem Chaos Communication Congress des Chaos Computer Clubs Ende des Jahres 2007. Beim, mittlerweile wohl schon traditionellen Vortrag rund um Konsolen(-Hacking) von und mit tmbinc (Felix Domke) kam was. Ganz am Schluss. Die Bombe. “One more thing”. Ein sehr aufgeregter Bushing ((?) wer genau weiß ich nicht) hatte da etwas zum Vorzeigen dabei. Was genau wusste noch niemand, aber es war mehr als nur ein Hoffnungsschimmer.

Die verwendete Wii zeigte brav die Daten, die sie von der Wiimote bekam, an. Viele freuten sich. Viele wurden enttäuscht. Der Exploit sollte nicht veröffentlicht werden. Zu “unsicher” war Er. Zu hoch das Risiko eines Fixes. Zu Wenig wusste man. Also die Ärmel hochgekrempelt und weitergearbeitet, bis man etwas besseres Fand. Der “Twilight Hack“ war geboren. Wie der Name schon verrät wurde die Tür durch die Wii Version des Spiels “The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess” geöffnet. Seit dem muss der geneigte Anwender nur im Besitz einer Kopie des oben genannten Spiels und einer SD Karte mit einem modifizierten Zelda Savegame sein, um die, inzwischen zahlreichen, Homebrew Programme zu nutzen.

Warum gab es so schnell so viele (gute) Software?

Zum einen ist die Wii weit verbreitet, was mehr potenzielle Entwickler bedeutet. Zum Anderen existierte bereits ein gewisser “Background”. Da die Nintendo Konsole dem Gamecube ziemlich ähnlich ist, konnte viel Wissen aus der Gamecube-Ära sozusagen kopiert werden. Viele “libaries”, ich würde sie als eine Art “Treiber” bezeichnen, konnten verwendet werden. Allerdings boten diese auch noch keinen Support für die neu hinzugekommenen Features, wie WLan, Bluetooth und USB, so dass es sich bei den ersten Spielen hauptsächlich um 1:1 Umsetzungen bekannter Gamecube Projekte handelte, die dadurch natürlich auch nur den Gamecube Controller unterstützten. Tetris war hierbei mein erstes Homebrew Programm auf der Wii. Man konnte zwar, wie immer, nur Blöcke runterwerfen, aber doch brachte es ein Aha-Gefühl mit sich: Da hatte man gerade Zelda gestartet, ein Savegame mit einem etwas komischen Namen ausgewählt, war zwei Schritte gelaufen und auf einmal wurde der Bildschirm schwarz, etliche Meldungen ratterten herunter und die Tetris Musik erklang.

Einige Portierungen später erschien erste Homebrew Software, die die Wiimote verwendet. Schon bald war man es überdrüssig ständig Zelda zu starten, nur um eine Runde Tetris zu spielen.  Doch das Team Twiizers hatte schon eine Weile an einer Lösung gearbeitet und präsentierte dieses Video. Erste Bilder eines so genannten “Homebrew Channel”. Ein Kanal…im Wii Menü, der schon kurze Zeit später das Licht der gespannten Öffentlichkeit erblicken sollte. Zwar vorerst nur in einer rudimentären Art und Weise, stellte er Eindrucksvoll ein “Proof of Concept” dar und lies auf mehr hoffen. Die Entwicklung ging weiter und mittlerweile sind wir beim Homebrew Channel (der übrigens selbstständig nach neuen Versionen sucht) in der beta 8 angelangt. Von hier aus können seither bequem die auf der SD Karte vorhandenen Homebrew Applikationen gesucht und gestartet werden. Dies brachte die Wii Comunity einen enormen Schritt nach Vorne und verleitete immer mehr Leute zum Starten eigener Projekte.

Das große Interesse brachte jedoch, aus Sicht der ursprünglichen Entdecker, nicht nur Gutes. Raubkopierer, der Todfeind eines jeden Gutmenschens wollten natürlich auch ein Stück des Kuchens und erfreuten sich am gemeinhin so genannten “trucha bug“. Hierbei handelt es sich um den marginalen Fehler im DVD Überprüfunsprozess von Nintendo, der auf dem 24C3 genutzt wurde. Er ermöglicht auf einer gechippten Konsole ohne weiteres eigenen Code auszuführen. Im Allgemeinen bedeutet dies: Spiele konnten modifiziert werden, so dass z.B. Waluigi auf einmal das Moveset von Mario aufweist oder Ganondorf sich in Smash Bros. aufeinmal wie Falco verhält. Miteinher gehend mit der Möglichkeit Spiele zu öffnen wurde einen recht einfaches Tool gebastelt, das Spiele auf, teilweise enormen, Schrumpfungsprozess durch Programme wie Winrar, vorbereiten kann. Wii Schach konnte in handlichen 300 MB anstatt knapp 4,7 GB transportiert werden, Andere, wie das göttliche “Zack & Wiki“, benötigten nur noch knapp die Hälfte an Speicher.

[Achtung: Dies ist ein kritischer Absatz]
Allerdings wurde dieses “Problem” von Nintendo, wie erwartet, recht zügig (1 Monat) gelöst. IOS 37 wurde zusammen mit dem Update für WiiWare am 22 März 2008 auf den Update Servern bereitgestellt und bereitete den Anfang des vermeintlichen Endes modifizierter Software vor. Die neue IOS Version, der Unterbau sämtlicher Wii Software (steht für Internal Operating System ?), wurde zwar noch nicht verwendet, doch war es nur eine Frage der Zeit bis Dies geschehen sollte. Es geschah dann am 16 Juni mit der Firmware Version “3.3X”, die jedoch nicht nur modifizierten Spielen, sondern auch dem “Twilight Hack” den gar ausmachen sollte. Denn seit dieser Version checkt die Firmware ob das Savegame denn so in dieser Form auch sein kann, nur leider, für Nintendo, äußerst schlecht und wenige Stunden später war eine neue, voll funktionstüchtige Version des Zelda Savegames erschienen (mehr Info). Jedoch ist jedem spätestens seit diesen Ereignissen klar, dass man dem Katz und Maus Spiel so schnell wie möglich eine Ende setzen sollte.

Die momentan angestrebte Lösung: ein Costum IOS

Die Angst Vieler: ein Softmod oder gar ein ISO/Backup loader

Hierzu meine Sicht der Dinge: Viele fürchten und wahrscheinlich noch mehr erhoffen einen ISO Loader, mit dem Backups, ohne jedwede Modifikation an der Hardware, ausgeführt werden können. Warum tun sie das? Nun, die Jungs von Hackmii.com haben einen weiteren Fehler in der Wii Sicherheitsarchitektur gefunden, der ursprünglich gar nicht Publik gemacht werden sollte. Grund hierfür: Nintendo zeigt kein wirkliches Interesse an einer Kooperation/Lösung des Problems. Dieser Fehler soll es schon bald ermöglichen jedwede DVD, zum Beispiel auch Filme, zu starten. Desweiteren besteht schon seit langem die Hoffnung mithilfe der USB Anschlüsse und des SD Kartenlesers ganz einfach ISOs von bspw. einer USB Festplatte zu starten, ob dies realistisch ist, sei in den Raum gestellt, denn:

-es besteht ein enormer Programmieraufwand

-sind SD/USB/WLan (für streaming) nicht zu langsam? Nach meinem Wissen bieten die bisherigen libraries lediglich Support für USB 1.1, was deutlich zu langsam wäre und der SD Slot scheint nicht gerade von der schnellsten Sorte zu sein. Keine Ahnung wieso genau, aber mit dem Tool “ftpii” errreiche ich eine maximale Datenrate von 1600kbit/s, was gerade einmal DSL 1500 entsprechen würde.

Übrigens: Ich hoffe trotz alledem auf soetwas, denn ich hasse ehrlich gesagt die ständigen DVD Wechsel von Mario Kart zu Smash Bros und zurück.

Links:

TehSkeen – eine HB-Szeneseite

WiiNewz – neues aus der Wii Welt (Fokus auf Modchips & Homebrew)

Wiibrew – Wii Homebrew Wiki

HackMii – Blog der Wii Hacker

Events Archive – Chronik eingier wichtiger Releases

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Kleiner Hinweis am Rande: Ich hasse die automatische Textformatierung in WordPress…

Update:

Mittlerweile gibt es übrigens erste Programme, die z.B. DVDs abspielen können. More to come.

Update2:

Es existiert seit einiger Zeit ein Softmod, mit dem man gepatchte Spiele von DVD ohne Hardware Modifikation abspielen kann.

This Week In WiiDs – Issue One – All Eyes On Wii

Hello and welcome to This Week In WiiDs, I’m Jack “The Jumpman” Smith and whether your at home, at work or trying to fill the gap while your favourite Nintendo Podcast takes a break, this is the best place for news, views and discussion direct on the forum.

Welcome to Issue One of This Week In WiiDs, published on July 25th 2008, your weekly roundup of all things Nintendo while the podcast is on Hiatus. I aim to bring you everything you love about the show, plus a little extra straight to the forums every week for your viewing pleasure.

Question Of The Week

This weeks Question of the Week is from Dark_Link:

“What would you like to see on Nintendos next hand held?I would like a special stylus that when you twist is it would twist what was on the screen.
Thanks!
Oliver Ronaldson”

Thanks for the question Dark_Link Personally I’m going to be quite boring and say Rumble. All the games that utilise rumble on the GBA and DS have all used it brilliantly and it’s added that little extra spark. Plus, being a handheld means that you will get a much more engaging feedback response. The only issue would be in interfering with the touch screen in terms of tapping accuracy, but if it used well rather than a vibrationfest it would be a great addition.

Thats my thoughts, but what about yours? Please reply to this weeks issue with what you would like to see in your next-gen handheld.

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If you have a question of the week for This Week In WiiDs, please send me a PM and i’ll be sure to use it. Any unused questions will be forwarded to be used on the podcast. If you want to get in touch with the team, you can email them at Wiidspodcast@googlemail.com and if you register this link on your Wii we will send you a message to your Wii as soon as we are back on air as well as when further episodes are released. You can also check out the WiiDs blog at http://www.wiids-podcast.com for more news, views and discussion as well as the latest updates. You can also find us snooping around the forums at http://www.wiidsforum.com, so feel free to leave us a message or PM and we will make sure you are the first to know when we are back on air.

News

This weeks headlines:

• Microsoft Wants Wii60 Motion Solution
• Pirates Play On Unmodded Wii’s
• Judge’s Ban Causes Controller Chaos
• Wii Takes Top Title

Microsoft Wants Wii60 Motion Solution

We’ve all heard the rumours about Microsofts attempt at motion controls, but interviews this week have revealed that Microsoft might be trying to take a different apporach to their motion solution. John Schappert (Vice President of Xbox Live) was recently quoted as saying that they were very interested in the idea of using the Wiimote in conjunction with the Xbox 360. While it is slim to none that this agreement would ever see the light of day, Reggie wouldn’t deny any possibility.

While this may not be big news on it’s own, this certainly isn’t the first time we’ve seen Microsoft try and get close to Nintendo, with Rare having announced that they had managed to create DS-Xbox360 connectivity and pre-Xbox there was even talk of an attempt from Microsoft to buy out Nintendo. We’ve also seen Microsoft try and recreate Nintendo’s ideas and philosophy with many titles announced that will try and attract the expanded audience and their new Avatar system that bears more than a slight resemblance to Nintendo’s Mii’s. Such a deal would definately benefit Microsoft, as a partnership with Nintendo would pretty much spell the end for Sony as well as open up their markets to more casual gamers. However, in this generation, such a deal would seriously damage the Wii, so as I stated, it would be very unwise for Nintendo to think about such a proposal for this generation of gaming. Still, with Microsoft becoming ever more interested in Nintendo’s ways, perhaps a partnership may not be impossible in the far future.

Source

Pirates Play On Unmodded Wii’s

The battle between Piracy and Nintendo has always been a long one, but when Bushing, one of the Wii’s leading hackers, responsible for assisting in the Twilight Hack and Homebrew Channel, sent an open letter to Nintendo, it looked like Piracy may have won the war. The letter described read:

“Dear Nintendo

As part of our efforts to understanding how the Wii works, we believe we have found a security issue that could allow pirated Wii games to be played on an unmodified Wii console.”

If such a bug was released into the public domain it would definitely hurt Nintendo as it could be easily and cheaply (if not freely) implemented, However, they might be able to survive, despite the lack of sales and possibly support from third parties as they have done with the DS, which continues to sell impossibly well despite having one of the most thriving piracy scenes of this generation. Luckily, Bushing is not looking at releasing this into the public domain, instead trying to work with Nintendo to prevent the flaw from being exploited. However, the worry still remains as others may find this exploit now its existence has been confirmed, and as Bushing himself has admitted, we still have no idea how most of the Wii works. Therefore this may only be the tip of the iceburg in our magic white box’s secret buggy insides.

Source

Judges Ban Causes Controller Chaos

This week, a Judges ruling has banned the sale of Gamecube, Wavebird and Classic controllers in America as well as $21 million in damages. Nintendo was brought to court by the small Texas based company, Anascape, who claimed that Nintendo violated their patent on a control device utilising six degrees of freedom. They had initially lost their case in May, receiving a fine of $21 million, but their failure to overturn, or at least reduce, the damages has proven unsuccessful. Nintendo is currently trying to appeal to the U.S Court Of Appeals in the Federal Circuit and the ban will be put on hold, however, Nintendo will have to either post a bond, or place royalties in an escrow to avoid the halt.

Sony and Microsoft were also challenged, however Sony decided to licence the patent in 2004 while Microsoft decided to settle out of court.

While the ban has been put on hold during this appeal, if they loose their case once more, it will hurt Nintendo’s profits. Fortunately as they no longer manufacture Gamecube and Wavebird controllers, they will only be loosing money on Classic Controllers, however, without these three controllers, a large portion of Nintendo’s Virtual Console titles will be rendered unplayable. Therefore allowing the ban to continue will not be an option.

If Nintendo is successful they should be able to overturn the ban and reduce the damages to be paid, so will it be third time lucky for the gaming giants?

Source / Patent

Wii Takes Top Title

We knew it was coming, in fact it was inevitable and it’s a surprise it hasn’t happened sooner, but the Nintendo Wii has finally taken over the top spot of most consoles sold in the US from Microsofts Xbox 360. Despite a year head start, Microsoft has been unable to produce enough demand to keep their top place and the Wiis phenomenal sales show no sign of slowing down with 133,000 sales per week. So far the Wii has sold 3.5 million un its this year, with the PS3 following second with 1.6 million units, closely followed by the Xbox 360 with 1.34 million units sold.

The DS also continues to dominate the handheld scene, with 150,000 units sold per week. On top of this Nintendo also took six of the ten best selling games of June, with Guitar Hero: On Tour, Wii Fit, Lego Indiana Jones for Wii and DS and Wii Play, which remains in the top ten for it’s seventeenth month in a row, yet to fall from the charts with a total of six million units sold.

Source

New Announcements

This is the new announcements section, where each week we tell you what new titles have surfaced and are on their way to you soon.

While E3 may be over, the announcement of new games are still rolling in fast, with new games announced for the Wii and WiiWare.

First up is Sonic And The Black Knight, which sees Sonic enter the world of Authurian legends, as you dash and slash your way through a series of missions. The game will be using a similar level system to Sonic And The Secret Rings with multiple objectives given in each world, but replaces the tilty movement with nunchuck controls (presumably to leave the Wiimote open to waggle). You can read more here.

From Capcom we have had the announcement of Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop, which is a port of the Xbox360 title of the same name. The game will be based on the Resident Evil 4 engine and see you pitted against a shopping mall full of zombies as you try and survive. Source

However, this isn’t the only Wii title that we will be seeing from Capcom as in a recent interview they hinted that we have only seen half of the titles currently in development for Wii. So while there are no details, expect something soon! Source

Natsume have also announced plans to make a sequel to their puzzle title Puzzle De Harvest Moon. The original was a very interesting concept, but ultimately a bit shallow in its offerings so a well made sequel could tick all the right boxes. They also announced interest in making a WiiWare title but where this is the title mentioned above, or a new title remains unclear. Source

Speaking of Wiiware, Konami have just announced a WiiWare version of their classic title Gradius. From what i’ve seen so far it looks like the game will deliver the side scrolling shooting fun of the original, only with vastly improved graphics and sound. Source

We’ve also had an announcement of a new rhythm dancing game for WiiWare known as Helix. It looks like the game will involve striking poses using two Wii Remotes to the beat. The title looks to have a good selection of tracks and should be available this Autumn. Source

We’ve also had two new ERSB rating for Virtual Console titles. These titles are Sonic the Hedgehog on the Master System, which is for… you guessed it, the Master System and Splatterhouse 2 for the Mega Drive.

New This Week

Here’s what you can expect to see on your local retailers shelves this week in Europe:

Wii:

• No Wii games this week I’m afraid

Ds:

• Mr Slime ( 25/07/2008 )
• Race Driver: GRID ( 25/07/2008 )

Here’s what you can expect to see on your local retailers shelves this week in North America:

Wii:

• SNK Arcade Classics V1 ( 23/07/2008 )
• MLB Power Pros 2008 ( 28/07/2008 )
• King Of Clubs ( 29/07/2008 )
• Summer Athletics ( 29/07/208 )

Ds:

• Suzuki Superbikes ( 29/07/2008 )

WiiDs Online

Welcome to the Online section of the magazine, where we take a look at what’s new for download on the Wii, say hello to some new faces and take a look at the best forum topics this week.

Download Station

This week in Europe we’ve been given three new Virtual console titles. First up is Neo Turf Masters for Neo Geo (900 Points). Neo Turf Masters is a rather nice looking golf title with four 18-hole courses to explore and expect the usual power bar timing you’ve come to expect from golf games. If your a fan on the genre this is definitely worth a look. Next up is International Karate Plus for the Commadore 64 (500 points). This is pretty similar to International Karate released at the Commadores VC launch, only slightly prettier and the ability to have three fighters at once (but only two players). It’s highly rated by fans, but may its repetitive nature and unforgiving combat may drive some people away. Lastly we have City Connection for the NES (500 points) which is a strange car based platformer where your aim is to pain all the roads white without getting caught by the police. It’s obscurity leads for an interesting, but ultimately boring experience making this game 499 or so points too much for its enjoyment.

This week the US has been given two Mega Drive games and one new WiiWare title. First up is Super Fantasy Zone (900 Points), which is a colourful side scrolling shooter, so expect the usual mass onslaughts of enemies and rapid fire fun. Also this week sees the release of Gley Lancer (900 Points) which is another side scrolling shooter, only with a more futuristic theme. One WiiWare title also made it’s way to the Wii Shop in the form of Pirates: The Key Of Dreams (1000 Points) which sees you battling various pirate ships over ten levels. While the gameplay mechanics are fun, it’s on the short side so if your looking for a single player game, your money might be better spent elsewhere.

Japan has received a new Wii channel this week called the “Print Mii Out” (made up name) channel. This allows you to send off photos stored on your SD cards to be made into prints, photo books or business cards. There seems to be a good range of customisation and the prices seem fair, you can even have your Mii put on your business card There’s no news on a Western release yet, but we will let you know as soon as more information is released.

If that wasn’t enough, Japan has also received a code redemption section in their Shop Channel. This will be used to redeem free software using codes that come packaged in retail games. No word on what will be offered through this service as of yet, but it reminds me of the Band Bros DX, Speaker Channel, which allows Wii compatibility with the said DS game. This came with a redemption code, so perhaps we will be seeing more WiiDs connectivity in the near future.

There’s also been a new Wii update released this week. This basically installs some of the code required for the new Album channel to work correctly, so it’s nothing to get excited about.

New Members

New to the forums this week are:

• Tush
• Zimboo
• Lukepuke93
• McLovin

Welcome to the community and we look forward to talking with you

Topic Of The Week

This section is for the best news and discussions started by you the listeners. Be sure to check the following topic and post.

This weeks Topic Of The Week is by Darkoopa who asks “What do you want to see on your own custom DS?” We’ve had some very interesting ideas so far, from simple colour designs to character art. Theres also some very snazzy pictures of some of the rarest DS designs, so it’s definitely worth a look. Check Out the thread here.

And Finally…

After Butternut posted up a song based on the tune to Rainbow Road I did a bit of surfing and found this masterpiece based on the theme tune to Super Mario World. Is there no end to peoples lyrical imagination?

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Thats it for another Week In WiiDs. Please let us know your thoughts and opinions on the following topics as well as any feedback.

Until next time, We’ve Sown The Seeds, Now You Grow The WiiDs!