Nintendo has announced the launch of its WiiWare game download service for the Nintendo Wii. This launch comes almost a year after Nintendo announced the WiiWare game development platform last June. If you’ve hooked up your Wii game console to the Internet you can connect to the Wii shop channel, buy some Wii points and start downloading some new games online.

The Wii points exchange rate is at $1 USD to 100 Wii points and the online games run from 500 to 1,500 Wii points each with six games initially available. The service offers games built my independent developers that they can then post and sell through the Wii Shop Channel. The initial game lineup is different in the U.S. than those launching in Japan with the single exception of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life As a King, which launches in both.

All had been quiet on the Chinese front, so I knew we were about due for another Wii knockoff. I guess the Vii and the Vii2 weren’t cutting it for cheapasses who want to play games, so they upped the ante.

China Shenzhen Firstsing Company Limited, a company who brought us an unnecessary cooling fan for the Wii(And probably some other wacky stuff), now gives us a 7-in-1 gaming console. It looks alot like the Wii. You’ll get amazing 16-bit graphics technology, as well as sports games that are “similar to those on the Wii, but more cheaper,”. They even threw in a wireless gamepad, and 2 remote controls that look oddly familiar. Looks like they’ve also done away with the old fashioned CD and replaced it with a small but long cutting edge cartridge. You’ll also get the shown attachments, so you can spank yourself after buying it. Better yet, have someone else do it while you say “Thank you sir. May I have another.”

Walmart is moving in a more creative direction for the latest upcoming holiday and is promoting Nintendo’s Wii Fit as a “perfect gift for moms” for this Mothers Day. The retail giant has thrown traditional flowers and candy out the window as the Nintendo product is dominating the Walmart website home page with pre-orders for just under $90. The orders even come with a $10 gift card to Walmart so you can come back and get yourself a little something extra later on. The site’s home page portrays kids and men using the Wii Fit board as well, not to miss out on any type of demographic.

Walmart’s Mothers Day Wii Fit pre-order promotion with the gift card runs through May 11 and the Wii Fit will officially launch on May 19 for $89.99. Walmart will ship any pre-orders on or shortly after May 21 and ensures consumers that they been working with Nintendo to have adequate inventory to fill the pre-orders.

The studios won’t like this device one bit. The MZK-NAS02SG1T network attached storage device from Planex. The $524 1TB Gigabit Ethernet block claims “universal access” for all your devices, courtesy of its DigiJuke browser, searching and tagging BitTorrent and YouTube content you want downloaded in the appropriate PSP and iPod (MPEG-4), Wii (FLV), or TV (MPEG-2) format for in-home or portable viewing.

The NAS will also stream audio and video to your iTunes laptops or desktops, DLNA TV, Xbox 360, or other compliant device in the home. A USB 2.0 jack offers one-touch dubbing of USB sticks while a second around back offers storage expansion. It ships with a pair of 3.5-inch 500GB drives, which you may want to swap out for higher capacity drives at a later date.

If you love your Mii enough to immortalize it forever, you’ll love this idea. Mii Sculptures are finally available for purchase. All you have to do is fork over $79 and a copy of your Mii and this guy will hand-craft it just for you.

He’s done famous Miis like Michael Jackson, Woody Allen and Bill Gates and they really do look like the actual person. Since these are hand made, they’ll take around 3 to 4 weeks to complete. Probably more if he gets a ton of orders. I’m guessing we can look forward to blow-up Miis in the near future as well.

The same dirty Wii syndrome that affected Super Smash Bros is now coming to the forefront again with the launch of Mario Kart. You may or may not be able to get the game to play, depending on how filthy your Wii is. The disc reading laser is having a hard time cutting through the dirt, due to the fact that it’s a double-layer disc with a large memory capacity. Those who may be heavy smokers have a layer of nicotine on the lens, for instance.

Reports of the launch of Mario Kart Wii this month in Japan show that the game is having this same problem just months after Smash Bros. Nintendo will clean it for you, but that means you’ll have to be without it for awhile and frankly that sucks. Keep your Wii clean. A clean Wii is a happy Wii people.

Wii Fit is set to become the fastest selling Wii game ever. It’s outdone all previous records on Play.com by selling out its entire allocation in just one day. Wii Fit will be launching in the UK on April 25 and according to Play.com they have been “overwhelmed” by demand for the new game that isn’t really a game, but rather a fitness aid.

When it debuted in Japan 4 months ago, the exergame sold more than a million copies in the first month. That’s in a nation with around five million Wiis in use, so that’s nothing to sneeze at. Play.com is expecting to get more in stock before launch. It seems that people really do want to get healthy. Well, as long as there’s a Wii involved at any rate.

ThinkGeek is neigh legendary for its April fool’s Day pranks and this year they have one, though it could actually be a real product that sells. The game is called Pii Pii Brothers for the Wii and includes (if it were real) a special thong that places the Wii remote where a dudes Johnson would be.

The premise is that the game would let a lady know how it is to pee like a man with bathrooms ranging from bars to palaces according to the description. The goal is to control a continuous stream of urine and try to get as little as possible on the floor and pee on various animals that pop out of the toilets.

Looks like the Wii is still immensely popular. Don’t think so? Well, the Westin chain of hotels obviously does. They recently announced that they’ll be offering Wii rentals at their 150 locations. If Manhattan’s Le Parker Meridien is any indication of what they will charge, it will be expensive. They charge $50 to rent the $250 console for an hour.

If you have money to burn and want it projected onto a wall with a personal trainer in the gym, you’ll pay $120 an hour. If you have to pay that much to play Wii sports with someone, it might be time for you to get a new hobby. It’s not like you’ll be playing Wii golf with Tiger Woods after all. Don’t be a sucker. Take your damn Wii with you, people.

The Wii Fit hasn’t even hit shelves yet but you can bet that just like the Wii controllers you are going to start seeing loads of stuff trying to pry in and get its share of your gaming dollar. The first one we’ve seen so far is this set from Subsonic.

This accessory kit for the Wii Fit board includes a rechargeable battery pack, silicon mats to cover the board so you don’t slip on your own sweat, a bag to carry your Wii Fit board around in and a “special” spray and dust cloth to keep the thing clean when your done.

Anyone who has played Rock Band with a group of friends knows what fun the game can be. When it originally launched the game was only available for Xbox 360 and the PS3. EA confirmed in January that a Wii version would turn up sooner a later.

The official launch date for the Wii version of Rock Band was announced today. The game will hit store shelves on June 22, 2008 at a MSRP of $169.99. The Wii version will be launched in the familiar special edition bundle that comes with the guitar, drums, mic, and software.

We’ve gotten another word about the Wii Fit availability, this time pushing its U.S. release up a day to May 19 instead of the 20th. The Wii Fit is a motion and weight sensitive balance board for use with Nintendo’s Wii game console which will provide new types of interactive games and exercises.

Along with this, Nintendo has also announced that the WiiWare service will also launch in the U.S. in May. This service allows third party game developers to create games for the Wii that take advantage of motion sensitive controllers. Once this launches we are sure to see some more very interesting uses for the Wii remote and Nunchuck. These games will then be available for download through the Wii Shop Channel.

Just when you think you’ve spent enough money on Wii accessories, here comes a new upgraded sensor bar from CYBER Gadget. Unlike some Wii accessories, this one makes alot of sense. The standard sensor bar has that annoying cable running from the bar to your Wii. This one eliminates said annoying wire and gives you a clock too.

At first glance the clock seems like an annoying gimmick, but if you are like me, you quickly realize that it could be a very welcome addition to your entertainment center. I realized after seeing this that I actually could use a clock there since I haven’t used my VCR in almost a decade. One drawback to this device is that it uses 4 AAA batteries to run. It can still be plugged in, but that kinda defeats the whole purpose.

Some Guitar Hero III owners for the Wii have been stuck in mono for months now, after a problem with some of the games. At long lat Activision is finally ready to start issuing replacement discs.

According to some end-users, Activision is now sending out pre-paid envelopes, so customers have to ship back their faulty GH III disc and wait “3 to 4 weeks” before getting the new, stereo-enabled one for free. I hear ya, fans. That sucks! Some of you can’t live without your favorite game for that long.

Nerf and the the Zapper now have a love child, thanks to a new partnership between Electronic Arts and Hasbro. They’ve revealed Nerf N-Strike for the Nintendo Wii and DS systems, along with a Wiimote-based Nerf blaster. Nerf’s Wii blaster isn’t the usual Nintendo Zapper clone. That’s because it doubles as a functional Nerf dart gun. Just stick the Wiimote in the Nerf gun grip and it becomes a game controller, or load it with a Nerf blaster module to fire foam darts at your friends.

The Nerf N-Strike games and the blaster are scheduled to ship in Fall 2008. There should be more details from Hasbro at next week’s Toy Fair in New York. Here’s an idea, maybe they can shove a Wiimote in a Nerf football and have it communicate with the Wii.