Joystiq

Dutch company WunderWorks is apparently "surprised" that Nintendo's new-fangled Wii console is getting all sorts of press attention while their similar WunderWall wallows in obscurity. A press release on the WunderWorks web site ruefully points out that not only has the wireless-pointer-controlled WunderWall "been readily available for quite a while ... but also the games are excellent fun too!"

While the Wii pitifully maxes out at a mere four players, WunderWorks proudly proclaims that its superior system allows up to forty players to simultaneously play "soccer, MultiSnake, BigShot, MultiPong," and other games you probably don't care about. Not only that, but the PC-based system can be used for "group brainstorm software and interactive PowerPoint presentations," a feature gamers everywhere have been demanding in their game systems for years.

So why aren't people clamoring for the WunderWall over the Wii? Part of it might be that Nintendo has put over $200 million into marketing the Wii while no one outside the Netherlands has ever heard of the WunderWall before today. And while the Wii is available for $250 or a similar price at thousands of retailers worldwide, ordering a WunderWall seems to require putting in for a price quotation using a form on their web site. But the biggest reason the Wii is attracting more attention among gamers might be that Nintendo's decades of experience in the game business ensures the system's software lineup will be more impressive than the WunderWall's handful of cheap-looking, derivative games.

We posted some blurry phonecam videos of the WunderWall in action below so you can judge for yourself if their desperate plea for attention is justified. We guess we should be grateful, though -- as pleas for attention go, though, a press release definitely beats a lawsuit.

[Thanks Maarten]