Nyko just pumped out a full QWERTY chat pad for the Wii .  They felt that there just wasn’t a good enough tool to utilize the full functionality that some games and applications offer.

“Text input on the Wii has been limited to the on-screen keyboard or large, clunky hardware,” said Chris Arbogast, director of marketing at Nyko Technologies. “We are excited to see the Type Pad Pro release and provide a convenient all-in-one solution to type, navigate and control your Wii experience.”

It may look a little funny, like perhaps a Wii-mote with wings, but Nyko states that this setup will be ideal for typing on the Wii while maintaining pointer functionality.  Currently the Type Pad Pro is ideal for the Opera Browser, Animal Crossing: City Folk and Wii friend messaging.  In addition, the Type Pad Pro has two triggers on the back that are mapped to the A and B button.

The Type Pad Pro is available now at major North American retailers or directly from Amazon.com for a MSRP of $29.99.  Certainly this product fills a gap between the Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3.

No, I am not talking about the Wii Fit but a new device called the jOG. This device surprisingly works with almost any Wii game currently in existence. Here’s how it works. The jOG is basically a pedometer that you plug the Wii Nunchuck into and then into the Wii Remote. It translates steps into forward motion for any game that uses the Nunchuck joystick as movement control.

The results?

An independent report from John Moores University in Liverpool revealed that one hour using jOG to play a typical Wii game can involve taking as many as 10,000 steps – that’s the number the government recommends adults take each day to stay healthy. Not only that, using jOG more than tripled energy expenditure and increased heart rate by 40% in the young adults who participated in the tests.

I can certainly want to get one of these but who knows when they will be introduced to the States as they have just been released to the UK market.

I was able to get a sneak peak at the Red Faction: Guerrilla demo through a UK based gamertag and a code given to THQ registered members.  Even though I had already beta tested Red Faction: Guerrilla last year, I was eager to play this.  Not only would I be able to see what had changed since I was involved last but I would also grasp how the campaign play was going to be setup.

For those who didn’t get into the beta last year, Red Faction offers an environment where building are fully destructible.  In multi-player this works out well as one game style revolves around this and the ability to restore damaged building.  It is similar to Halo’s territories but instead of standing in a certain area you instead destroy and re-build a building to capture it.  Multi-player was excellent in the beta supporting a full 16 player match.  Weapons and extra abilities are well balanced and the pace of the game is comfortable.

The demo that is coming out soon features only one short campaign with the ability to unlock a harder difficulty once completed.  Alex Mason, part of the Red Faction, sets out to recover a mining vehicle that the EDF, the current ruling faction, has held from the miners.  On easy the AI is easy to beat single handed but once they come out in numbers its best to play strategically.   In all actuality I found myself to be more of a threat than the AI.  I kept smashing through structures that held gases and fuels, and imeaditely found myself dead and restarting the mission.

One noticeable difference from most first person shooters is a reputation system.  When playing through missions, destroying EDF controlled facilities gains a good reputation from the miners for the Red Faction but accidentally killing miners will draw away from that reputation faster than you can earn it.

Once I reached the under guarded mining Walker I quickly boarded it and started the short phase two of the mission; getting the damned thing to the truck.  A brief walk carried me through the EDF controlled facility, through several men, and a bridge or two.  Yeah, that thing is pretty much indestructible so I can’t understand how the EDF wrangled it away from the miners in the first place.

Phase three, aka drive away while defending, was pretty much my favorite.  Here I mounted a back cannon gun on the vehicle hauling the Walker away and defending against all the EDF vehicles that persued us.  Why they chose to drive past all those points I will never know but it was certainly fun none the less.  Once passing a bridge that my friends blew up behind me, with planted charges though my cannon certainly would have done the trick, the campaign and the demo ends.
I certainly cannot wait for more Red Faction: Guerrilla, everything about this game just seems right to me.  Maybe I just like destroying things too much?

WiiWare
Sandy Beach Konami, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone—Comic Mischief, 500 Wii Points:
Enjoy a fun day at Sandy Beach as you build elaborate sand castles. You can work peacefully on your sand castle or enter into a battle with invading crabs in Crab Battle mode. Players will strategically build their sand castle and use cannons to defend it against an army of destructive crabs. After successfully defending your sand castle, discover beach treasures and additional cannons with your metal detector to customize your castle even more.

Virtual Console
Kirby's Dream Land 3 Super NES, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points:
Kirby, Dream Land's resident hero and everyone's favorite puffball, must once again save the day when the mischievous King Dedede starts causing trouble. Kirby must travel through an assortment of levels, battling an exotic array of enemies both new and familiar determined to stop him from completing his mission. Always armed with his trusty ability to swallow enemies and gain special attacks, Kirby can also unite with some of his animal friends and make use of their particular talents. Featuring detailed graphics, challenging boss battles and the distinct charm of a Kirby game, it's no wonder this title is considered a classic.

Heath Blom did not want a Wii for Christmas. When his grandparents gave him one, he flipped out
—as kids sometimes do—except he’s 26 and was arrested on misdemeanor “domestic-related” assault charges.

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