Thunderstorms have really been on a tear across the US lately. Mother's day was plagued by a steady dusting of rain yesterday as I treated my mother to a nice Bob Evan's dinner. There's still a remnant of winter beckoning to be remembered amongst the spring-time air. None-the-less, gaming has really been on a tear of its own right now as well. Nintendo has been releasing new channels quite aggressively as of late. Also, the advertising of Wii Fit has really become a conversation piece. I'm quite intrigued by this new technology Nintendo has laid out before us, yet a bit puzzled by the obvious shortcomings that have been discussed among various forums and websites. My primary question would have to be: Does it really make exercise fun?

At $90 it's a difficult purchase to make. I like the idea of the balance board and it could really be a lot of fun but this game seems as though it would only be enjoyable with the presence of others - and maybe depressing if you play it alone. Plus, I have a gym I can go to right next door (walking distance!) which I frequent a few times a week. For that reason I don't really need the game and it makes it difficult to justify such a high purchase price (dang shrinking budget!). I'm considering waiting - maybe someone will get it for me as a graduation gift since I will be graduating in a few months! Reviews have been generally mixed from what I have seen so far.

Perhaps Gamespot could help me out with the price. They're currently hosting the Super Smash Brothers Brawl Fight or Flight Tournament this week. With a $700 BestBuy gift card for the winner, $250 for 2nd, and $50 for third, I could easily buy Wii Fit and then some. I signed up and had my first match earlier today. The video below details my experience (which ended up much better than what I had in the Forza Tournament).

I had a successful first round playing as Sheik/Zelda. The second round gets underway on Thursday so wish me luck!

Some recent game ratings:

• Cuis'n USA (Wii) - 5.0
• Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 8.5
• Okami (Wii) - 8.5
• River City Ransom (Wii) - 5.0
• Super Smash Brothers Brawl (Wii) - 9.5
• Professor Layton and the Curious Village - 7.5

It was recently announced that Disgaea would be re-released again for the Nintendo DS under a new subtitle Hour of Darkness! I am looking forward to playing it. I had a PSP and this game for a bit but never got a real chance to get into it. Speaking of the PSP, I sold mine after I finished playing FFVII: Crisis Core. I mainly sold it because I wanted to put the money towards something else and, other than Disgaea, I didn't have anything to really enjoy with it. So once I heard Disgaea was going to be put on the DS it freed me from needing the PSP to play that game anymore. Hurray! There's only a handful of games I am interested in right now and many of them wont come out for some time. They include Disgaea (DS), Gears of War 2 (360), NASCAR 09 (360), Resident Evil 5 (360), Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Wii), and Wii Fit (Wii) which I am currently unsure of.

* Hurray for Disgaea: Hour of Darkness on the DS!

Onward, Nintendo has been going crazy with new channels lately. It was nice to get the Mario Kart Wii channel, then the Nintendo Channel, and now we even have WiiWare titles to download. It's almost too much. The main feature I like about the Nintendo Channel is that we can finally download DS demos at home. I tried doing it in the store but you always get these looks like you're doing something naughty (the nerve!). Anyway, I haven't downloaded any WiiWare titles myself. I'm holding out for some reviews before I commit to anything.

Finally, I have been uploading a lot of gameplay videos for a league I have been running with on Forza 2 called Sultans of Sebring. MtMullins (my teammate) and I are currently leading the championship but are merely 1 point ahead of 2nd place. Combined we have 4 victories over six races. I have yet to finish outside the top2. Tomorrow night we are having our final round which will consist of 8 drivers and 4 teams (each of 2 drivers). I have been very competitive in the Pontiac Solstice so we'll see how it goes. Like in the Gamespot Forza Tournament, anything can happen.

Well that's it for the gaming news update!