‘Conduit’ brings firepower, but Wii game fails to impress

The Wii’s controller is perfect for first-person shooters. Instead of using a joystick to move crosshairs around the screen, the Wii remote mimics a real gun. You point, you click, you make a guy dead. It’s the shortest point between you and mass murder. That’s why it’s surprising that there are only a few FPSes on Nintendo’s system.“The Conduit” aims to fill that void. It’s not just an underpowered downgrade of popular Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 games, such as “Call of Duty.” “The Conduit” is the first FPS since Nintendo’s own “Metroid Prime 3” to be designed specifically and exclusively for the Wii.Technically, “The Conduit” is perfectly calibrated for the system. The graphics are the best you’ll see on the Wii from a game not made by Nintendo. The controls are both great and highly customizable, letting you decide your optimal setup for shooting a ton of dudes. It even offers a fully formed online component, with various solo and team deathmatch modes - a feature as rare for the Wii as an “M” rating. Clearly a lot of work went into “The Conduit.” Maybe the obvious effort and good intentions are why the game is ultimately so disappointing.“The Conduit” is clearly hindered by the Wii’s underpowered hardware, which makes the graphics slightly more impressive than an exceptionally good first-generation Xbox game. It looks better than most Wii games, but can’t compare to even mediocre 360 or PS3 visuals. We expect that from the Wii, though, so that’s not necessarily why “The Conduit” disappoints.

Read rest of entry

wi-tribe Pakistan launches commercial WiMAX

The Jano is reporting that wi-tribe Pakistan, part of the wi-tribe Group and a subsidiary of the Qatar Telecom (Qtel) Group, has begun commercial WiMAX services in Pakistan. Initially the service will be available in Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi. Commenting on the launch Sami Hinedi, CEO of wi-tribe Group said: ‘We strongly believe in improving the lifestyle of our customers by understanding their needs and offering them the best personalised customer experience. We want to provide solutions that are simple, easy and valued by individuals, businesses and the government.’The launch comes after wi-tribe Pakistan announced that it had signed a multi-year WiMAX deal with vendor Motorola in October 2008. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database, wi-tribe Pakistan is a joint venture between Qtel and Saudi Arabia's A.A. Turki Group of Companies (ATCO); in May 2007 the two companies completed the purchase of a 75% stake in Islamabad-based Burraq Telecom, revealing plans to offer basic broadband and VoIP services after rebranding the operator under the wi-tribe moniker.

Read rest of entry

Wii Video games sales fall 17%

OVERALL US video game sales fell 17 per cent in March to US$1.43 billion (S$2.14 billion), research group NPD said on Thursday, a revealing figure for an industry that had so far shown resilience in the economic downturn.Video game software sales dropped 17 per cent to US$792.8 million in the month, while hardware sales fell 18 per cent to US$455.6 million.Nintendo's blockbuster Wii was again the top-selling console in the US, selling 601,000 units. Microsoft's Xbox 360 was No. 2 with 330,000 units, while Sony's PlayStation 3 was third, with 218,000 units.Nintendo's DS was the top-selling handheld console, selling 563,000 units, ahead of Sony's PSP, which sold 168,000.Capcom's 'Resident Evil 5' was the best-selling video game in the month, selling 1.5 million units for the Xbox and PlayStation 3,

Read rest of entry