Category: 
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
- Shopping options throughout the game’s Olympic village provide opportunity to buy both the gear and upgrades needed for competitions and to customize the gear that you already have.
- Compete in real Olympic Winter events, and over-the-top Dream Events, as you experience the glory of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics from the comfort of home.
- Choose from a large assortment of characters from both the Mario and Sonic game universes, including Donkey Kong, Metal Sonic, Bowser Jr. and Silver.
- Players are challenged to perform a variety of movements using intuitive controls on the Wii Remote/Nunchuk and Wii Balance Board as they simulate real-life movements, and skate, ski and snowboard their way to glory.
- Get your game on in singleplayer, multiplayer, co-op and the over Festival Mode where you complete in every event to become the overall Olympic champion.
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games will take players to Vancouver, Canada, host city of the official 2010 Olympic Winter Games. This gaming experience invites players of all ages and skill sets to face-off in some of the most intense winter competitions. Tailored to the specific system controls, Nintendo DS and Wii gamers will enjoy completely unique experiences thanks to each platform having its own specific gameplay features and modes. Players of all skill levels will enjoy the intui
Rating: 
(out of 84 reviews)
List Price: $ 49.99
Price: $ 33.33
Wii MotionPlus
- Wii Remote sold separately
Simple. Intuitive. Easy to use. Connect the Wii MotionPlus™ accessory to your Wii Remote™ controller to increase accuracy and enhance play control on compatible games. Look on the back of Wii Game Disc packaging to see which games are specially designed for use with Wii MotionPlus. Wii MotionPlus contains additional sensors that make the Wii Remote respond to the slightest movement, motion, or twist of the wrist. Wii MotionPlus must be used with a Wii Remote, which is sold separately.
Rating: (out of 228 reviews)
List Price: $ 19.99
Price: $ 13.00
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Review by S. McGinnis for Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Rating:
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games has many games (listed below) and play options so there’s something for everyone. It also has variety for different situations, such as playing alone, as a team or against others, which make it a great all-around game.
Initial events:
Alpine Skiing (Downhill and Giant Slalom)
Ski Jumping (Individual and Team Large Hill)
Freestyle Skiing (Moguls and Ski Cross)
Snowboard (Halfpipe and Snowboard Cross)
Speed Skating (500m, Short Track 1000m, Short Track Relay)
Figure Skating
Skeleton
Bobsleigh
Ice Hockey
Curling
Dream Ski Cross
Dream Snowboard Cross
Other “Dream” events are unlocked as you play. These involve variations on the main events and some new ones. In the Dream versions you collect and use items, face obstacles, use different tracks, etc.
There are also 3 “Party Games” that seem silly when playing them on your own but should be a fun way to play many events quickly with a group of people.
Pros:
Multiple modes–Single Match allows you to select your events and choose Versus, Team Versus, or Co-op Play. Festival allows an individual or team of up to 4 players to take on events and rival challenges as assigned over 16 “days” of the Olympic games. This is like arcade mode. You can also check your records against others’ on WFC.
Balance board option–you don’t have to use the Wii Fit balance board but, if you have one, you can do 1-player games with it. It changes the game play and provides additional variety. (It’s harder than the regular controls though!)
Multiple characters–the characters all have different attributes and special moves so it keeps the play interesting.
Many games–as mentioned there is something for everyone due to nice breadth and depth–and all ages should enjoy it. It’s easier to unlock things than in Mario Kart. It even lets you accumulate points and “shop” for decals so you can customize your skis, bobsleighs and snowboard, outfits for your Mii, etc.
Cons:
Controls–if you want to play something that actually simulates hockey moves, skating, etc. this isn’t it. The controls are fun and pretty responsive but not similar to Wii Sports or Wii Sports Resort (although using the balance board helps.) Also, the instructions for Curling tell you to use a bowling swing but neither my boyfriend nor I can get it to work that way consistently. We’ve found that you have to snap your wrist and then it works fine.
Balance board option–a pro but a con too as you can only use it for 1-player games.
No Wii Motion Plus option–it would be fun if WM+ worked with this.
Review by Dave Reynolds for Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Rating:
Kids – if you’re looking for a game that has a lot of action, this is it. Parents – if you’re looking for a clean game that you can even occasionally play with the kids, this is it. Some of you may be returning to this title after playing the Mario/Sonic Beijing 2008 game. Although that game was good in its own right, this one is even better. There is no violence in this game, and it introduces you to the world of the Olympic Winter Games using the familiarity of your favorite characters from two of the most popular frachises in the industry. I would suggest that this game is probably even better if you are new to the Wii.
The best part of this game is that there are challenges for players of every skill level. Certain events are easy enough for inexperienced gamers (such as very young children or non-gamer parents), while other events may challenge even the more experienced gamer. The gameplay is organized very well; you can either play Olympic events freely or aim for a high score in a structured “Festival Mode”. As for the Olypmic events, this game includes a wealth of favorite sports – some of which will be new to the Olympics in real life, appearing for the first time in Vancouver this winter. There are familiar events such as Alpine Skiing, Figure Skating, and Ice Hockey; and there are some fantasy events that you can unlock, as well. If you have a Wii Balance Board, you can use that as a controller for certain events – but the game does not require it. Many of the events in this game do not even require the Nunchuk accessory (though I would highly recommend purchasing one if you plan to buy this game).
Just as in Mario & Sonic at the Beijing Olympics, this game allows you to use your Mii in the different events. As an added bonus in this game, however, you can customize your Mii by “purchasing” items in the shop (you purchase these items using points you earn by completing events – giving you yet another way to structure your gameplay). You can also unlock books at the library, where you can learn about different aspects of the real Olympic Games. I, myself, never knew how Curling was played until I played this game. The multiplayer in this game, by the sheer nature of the type of game it is, is excellent. You can play cooperatively or competetively with friends and/or family. If you like to use the online features of the Wii, you can connect this game and check your high scores against those of other players all over the world. The background and theme music is outstanding, and the graphics are simply gorgeous. This game is a must-have for any die-hard sports fan, but especially for fans of the Olympic Games.
Review by personalityplus for Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Rating:
What more can I say when I bought this game my kids played it for the whole day! They had a blast with this game and loved the interaction together playing it! Its def. a family game and a very fun one for everyone! All aspects of the winter games was well received. I would YES recommend this game and be prepared to play it all day long!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review by LL for Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Rating:
I had high hopes for this game and my hopes were exceeded. If you liked Mario and sonic at the Summer Games, trust me, you will like this on ten times more.
Pros
-This game has superb graphics that really get you into the winter feel
-It is not as strenuos as the first one which leaves more playing time and less rest time
-The wii motion controls are excellent whether it is skiing or speed skating you feel like you are sonic or mario
-Some of the games aren’t even in the winter olymics. You may think this is a bab thing but having a snow ball fight is one of my favorite things to do in this game. use thhe nunchuck to build a snowball nd flick the wii remote to throw it
-excellent replay value unlike the previous mario and sonic game that had no replay value this game you can paly over and over and still break new records
Cons
-just like last game multy player is very unfair like , whoever has the fatest or strongest guy wins
All in all this is a great game for wii players of all ages and i highly recommend it to anybody who wants to have a good time
Review by D. Clements for Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Rating:
My family enjoyed the original summer games version. I was a little pessimistic going into this Olympic Winter Games since, in general, I am not a big fan of the winter olympic events. But I was happily surprised to see the great improvements made to gameplay from the previous summer olympics release. After playing this game, I am hoping the they release the next summer olympic game and incorporate the improvements made for this Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. In the summer games, you could play in a season-like mode, but only as an individual. The Winter Games allows multiple players, as a team or vs., to go through an entire 16(?) day campaign, full of unlockable features. The other great new addition are the “Dream” events. They are kind of silly at times, but if you’re a fan of the Mario and Sonic series, you’ll really appreciate the features built into these events. The other key addition for this game release is support for the Wii Balance Board in several events, but I have not tried using the board yet. The only negative comment I have is that going into the Dream Events for the first time, there is no real direction, explanation of what to expect or how to accomplish the goals- which can be very tricky for some of the events that are really quite different from the standard events.
Review by Code Wizard for Wii MotionPlus
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The motion plus definitely makes the games more fun – I really enjoyed the sword fighting in Wii Resort.
That said, there is one serious issue. When I first fired up WII Resort, I thought it was interesting they kept harping on how to recalibrate the motion plus. Eveytime a game starts. Everytime you move to a new level. If it doesn’t feel right recalibrate.
Well the reason for that becomes evident if you play any of the ‘intenser’ games, ala sword fighting. The controller quickly becomes uncalibrated. This is expecially bad in the horde sword fight levels – it simply starts getting out of sync after 5-10 enemies. I have to recalibrate it every 3-5 minutes.
And before anyone says ‘hardware issue’ I purchased two of them. I have two remotes. Every combination exhibits this issue – it’s highly unlikely both of my motion pluses have a failure.
This is a pretty glaring problem in an otherwise very cool addon – and honestly is extemely disappointing to me as the sword fighting possiblites is where I was most interested in it. I sure hope it’s something that can be addressed in the future via a software patch, but I have my doubts.
Review by PT Cruiser for Wii MotionPlus
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Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3NJPOOHGAS7ZC I’ve only tried the Wii MotionPlus with one game so far, Virtua Tennis 2009 but the MotionPlus enhanced the sensitivity of the Wiimote and made it more responsive when playing this game. It seems to sense the turning and direction or your hand better than the Wiimote alone and I thought it made the Virtua Tennis game more realistic and enjoyable. It gives you that little bit extra to play the game.
I recorded this short video so you can see how it attaches to the Wiimote. As you can see, when it’s on you don’t even notice that it’s there. It isn’t big or clunky like some of the add-on’s to make the nunchuks wireless that I’ve seen.
I liked the addition of it with this one game and I’m looking forward to trying other games as they’re released.
Update 6/21/09 – I had a chance to try the Wii MotionPlus with a friends new Tiger Woods Golf game and the difference between the game with and without the Wii MotionPlus is pretty amazing, probably even more so than with Virtua Tennis. It’s much more fine tuned than last year’s game.
Review by Halicon5 for Wii MotionPlus
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The Wii Motion Plus is a small add-on accessory that plugs into the bottom of the wii remote. The device also comes with a larger silicone sleeve for your Wii remotes, which is nice.
At the time of this writing, I have only used the Motion Plus with one game, Tiger Woods 2010, and I have to say that I’m flat out impressed. If developers can continue to make games that implement this device at least half as proficiently as an early game such as Tiger Woods 2010, I have very high hopes for this product. The device makes a night and day difference in the sensitivity and responsiveness of the motion controls. I really hope more developers keep producing games that utilize this device, because I’m hooked.
PROS:
+++ Increased controller sensitivity and responsiveness
+++ Comes with a new silicone sleeve for your controller
+++ Gives the Wii Remote a heavier, more solid feel.
CONS:
— Limited number of games that support the device (but this number should hopefully grow)
— Additional cost. Nintendo officially has the most expensive controller if you count the Wii Remote ($40), Nunchuck ($20), and Motion Plus ($20).
If you want to own a game that requires the Motion Plus, you don’t really have a choice and are pretty much forced to buy one of these. If you own a game that has the option of using Motion Plus, I highly recommend that you purchase one of these little gems. If possible, try to get one as part of a pack-in combo since you may save a little bit of money.
Review by B.H. for Wii MotionPlus
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We bought the Resort Sports (which we love) and apparently the motion plus is a packaged deal. We got one with the game and bought one separately.
The recalibration on this is driving us crazy. There are some games (wakeboarding) that we (the adults) have to do it pretty often and others that we don’t. However, for our 5 year old, she has to recalibrate practically every minute. She gets so frustrated and then doesn’t even want to play.
So, we just paid lots of extra bucks for a controller that makes our child (and occassionally us) not want to play the game. Where is the logic in that!!! With the regular Wii Sports golf game she had so much fun – with the new one she can’t even play!
We are so frustrated with wii right now!
Review by age for Wii MotionPlus
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Okay, got one in Wii Sports Resort and bought an extra two for everyone else (eventually getting another one for the last Wii-mote). In case you were wondering, yes, it does come with the longer jacket for the wii-mote. In fact, the Wii motionplus is attached to the longer jacket and it comes with instructions on how to attach it properly. The connection on the Wii motionplus to the wii-mote feels flimsy, but it’s supposed to feel that way — it’s NOT broken!
What it does is provide more information to whatever game you’re playing about the position of the wii-mote. This enables you to be more in control and play games more realistically. However, very few games support it right now and it saps your batteries twice as fast, but it’s generally worth it. Let’s just say that if Nintendo comes out with an “improved” Wii MotionPlus in 6 months to a year, I’m going to be riotous, but not surprised.
I suggest you get Wii Charge Station Quad or Wii Charge Station or some rechargeable batteries if you haven’t already because the price for power gets even higher with the Wii MotionPlus.
Just stumbled upon your article and will review other ones. Looks like seriously great stuff.
What theme are you using here ? I like the style. Thanks for this post.
If I might say it here, a lot of the discussion concerning Tiger Woods will be forgotten now that his divorce, which we weren’t told about, is finalised and he can get on with what he does best – playing golf. Go Tiger!