balance-board posts (Subscribe to this feed)
Thrustmaster puts a board on your (balance) board
by Richard Mitchell 
{ Nov 5th 2009 at 10:30PM } 
Perhaps such a peripheral could interfere with games designed to work with a naked Balance Board but, assuming it works as advertised, the T-Freestyle NW just might be the thing to make your extreme games that much more extreme. For the asking price of $29.99, it had better.
Expect the T-Freestyle NW to hit shelves at the end of November.
Gallery: T-Freestyle NW (Wii)
Balance Board used in experimental airport screening study
by David Hinkle { Oct 9th 2009 at 12:30AM }
The US has invested a healthy amount of money into combating the terrorist threat -- certainly a bit more than $100. According to a CNN report, one of a few experimental methods being used to identify suspicious dudes at the airport uses Nintendo's Wii Balance Board (sans Wii Fit Plus).Scientists part of the Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST) program have taken the Wii Fit peripheral and adjusted it to measure how a person shifts their weight. Scientists hope to find "a level of fidgeting that would suggest the need for secondary screening." We're just glad we're not a part of the study, because every time we step on a Balance Board, we can't help but act like we're playing that awesome hula hoop minigame. That's a suspicious amount of fidgeting.
[Via Kotaku]
Interview: Super Monkey Ball's Yasuhito Baba
by Andrew Yoon { Oct 5th 2009 at 2:46PM } 
Who would've thought that a simple game about monkeys trapped in plastic balls would go on to become one of Sega's biggest franchises? We talked with Sega producer Yasuhito Baba at Tokyo Game Show about the upcoming Step & Roll for the Wii Balance Board, and talked about the future for the franchise. Will it include support for Natal and the PlayStation Motion Controller? Read on.
Yasuhito Baba: So actually, as soon the Balance Board game out, we thought this would be a great match for Super Monkey Ball. But the problem is, because we can't bundle with the Balance Board, we had to wait and see how the Balance Board would do. We had to wait for it to sell and wait for there to be a market for more Balance Board games.
Monkey Ball is really well suited for new devices. So pretty much whenever there's a new device or new platform, we're always thinking about if Monkey Ball would work on it or not.
TGS 2009: Feet-on: Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll
by Andrew Yoon { Sep 28th 2009 at 7:00AM }
Conceptually, the game is rather easy to grasp. Once again, players are tasked with getting monkeys (that are mysteriously trapped in plastic balls) to a goal by tilting the game world. This time around, the game can be controlled through shifting your weight on the Balance Board -- the translation should be immediately apparent.
Perhaps masters of Wii Fit (and subsequent fitness-related knockoffs) should find no problem with Step & Roll. However, a Balance Board novice like myself was a bit overwhelmed by the sensitivity demanded by the game: it takes subtle shifts in weight to carefully control the monkeys. Instead, my exaggerated movements caused the board to jerk around, tossing the trapped simian around haphazardly through the course.
Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage trailer travels the globe
by David Hinkle { Aug 27th 2009 at 4:15PM }
Ubisoft just sent us a new trailer for Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage and, as those powder-carving kids would say, it's totally tubular. It reminds us of a time when snowboarding games were, uh, fun (oh, how we miss you, SSX). If this wasn't on your radar before this post, we're sure that's going to change for a few of you after checking out the action above. Enjoy.
Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll into new screens
by JC Fletcher { Aug 19th 2009 at 1:45PM }
We suspect that, by allowing ourselves to be charmed by Monkey Ball and its promise of wonderful minigames once again (some kind of Monkey Landspeeder thing!), we're setting ourselves up for crushing disappointment when it turns out not to be as good as Super Monkey Ball 2, like they all have since Super Monkey Ball 2.
Gallery: Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll (Wii)
Japan gets Wii Fit Plus on October 1
by David Hinkle { Jul 30th 2009 at 10:15AM }
[Thanks, Mr. Khan!]
Super Monkey Ball: Step and Roll revealed by Sega 'Jackpot' countdown
by JC Fletcher { Jul 21st 2009 at 11:47AM }
We love Monkey Ball, but tilt control hasn't turned out well in previous attempts. Maybe tilting with our whole bodies on the Balance Board will work out better than tilting with just our hands? It has to work out better than tilting the screen while trying to keep our eyes locked on it.
New Monkey Ball trademark discovered, may use Wii Balance Board
by Andrew Yoon { Jun 16th 2009 at 4:40PM }
The US Patent & Trademark Office has revealed the title of a brand new game in Sega's long-running series, called Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll. While the listing doesn't confirm use of the Balance Board, it seems like a perfect fit for the franchise. The active nature of the title makes us believe this is indeed Sega's attempt at letting players use their real-life balance to navigate the tricky Monkey Ball worlds. It's such an easy concept to visualize, we're surprised it hasn't already been made yet.
[Via 1UP, Kotaku]
Hands-on (and flapping like wings): Wii Fit Plus
by JC Fletcher { Jun 8th 2009 at 9:00AM }
Gallery: Wii Fit Plus (Wii)
Wii's new Dance Dance Revolution is Balance Board-based, fitness-focused
by Randy Nelson { Jun 3rd 2009 at 7:23PM }
Shaun White Snowboarding sequel is Wii-exclusive
by Randy Nelson { May 27th 2009 at 2:00PM }
click to make with the bigness
The move to a single-platform release may seem surprising, but it's made less so when you consider that the Wii version of the first game outsold other versions by nearly a 2:1 margin. We've contacted Ubisoft for comment on the decision and to clarify whether or not this news marks a full-stop for the franchise on other platforms. In the meantime, start waxing those balance boards.
Vertigo tumbles into retail June 16
by JC Fletcher { May 5th 2009 at 5:15PM }
This trailer reminds us of a 3D Marble Madness more than Monkey Ball, with its future theme and precision jumping, but even that doesn't quite capture it. The levels seem a lot longer and more platformer-like.
Vertigo also features four multiplayer modes: "Time Trial, Xorb Football, Death Match, and 10-pin Xorb bowling," as well as single-player time trials. For our own sake, we hope that the time trial grades you on how quickly you fall off the side.
Gallery: Vertigo
Southpeak bringing Sled Shred to Wii
by Justin McElroy { Apr 29th 2009 at 12:00PM }
Here's a perfect example of why there needs to be freer communication between the press and game publishers. This morning, Southpeak announced that it would be releasing Sled Shred on the Wii, a downhill racing game that takes advantage of the Wii Balance Board. More importantly, though, the release stated that players would race "with and against the world-renowned Jamaican Bobsled team."Springing into action, we asked the most obvious, important questions: [1] Will Doug E. Doug appear in the game? [2] Will zombie John Candy appear in the game? [3] At any point, will someone say "Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up, its bobsled time!"? Get this: We still haven't gotten a response from Southpeak. Guess we'll have to wait until Fall 2009 to find out for ourselves.
The 'Wii Riiser Aerobic Step' for ... the Wii Balance Board
by Ben Gilbert { Apr 22nd 2009 at 7:00PM }
The company contests this is the average height of an actual stepper (which we won't point out also costs significantly less than the Wii Fit and "Wii Riiser Aerobic Step" combined), and as such, will help "improve your step aerobic workout." While we're sure this peripheral would attach to your Balance Board that much easier than two pieces of equally sized wood, we're not so sure it would serve a different purpose. Zoozen's "Wii Riiser Aerobic Step" is available now for the not-so-nice price of $39.99.
