Manly men have probably migrated from the Wii by now, but maybe MoProUSA’s frighteningly realistic Wii pistols will lure them back. Engadget got the scoop on these beasts, which are still in prototype mode, otherwise you’d probably see a big, orange “not a real gun” stripe running across the top or something. MoProUSA hopes to get an investor interested in the utility patent in order to bring these crazy Wii guns to market. So get on that, investors.

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We still don’t know how NBA Jam for the Wii will play — or how the announcer will sound, for that matter — but these screenshots are worth a chuckle. Looks like Electronic Arts won’t rely completely on 16-bit nostalgia, with an art style that’s somewhat two-dimensional in that all the players look like paper cut-outs. It certainly gives makes the players look goofy, what with the big heads (big heads!) and all. If enough NBA stars get on board and aren’t afraid to get silly, the visuals alone could make this NBA Jam remake special. The game is due later this year; have a say in which stars make the cut by voting at EA’s NBA Jam Web site. [via Kotaku]

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Though I don’t regret picking up Mass Effect 2 this week, some reviews of No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle are making me second-guess which game I should’ve played first. It seems designer Goichi Suda is madly brilliant as ever with NMH2, digging further into questions of what it means to be a gamer and a game developer, while giving Wii owners the beam katana-fueled bloodbath that they so rarely get to enjoy. Here’s what Destructoid’s Jonathan Holmes wrote after a marathon play session:

The thing about Suda’s games is that there is always that question — “Is that a mistake, or is it a comment on gaming/society/meaning of life?” It’s an impossible question to answer, and one that invigorates Suda’s fans as much as it infuriates his detractors. That’s the thing about No More Heroes 2 that will probably puzzle people on both sides of that divide the most: the game is really low on anything that could be interpreted as a mistake.

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For the upcoming Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll, Sega and Chiquita Banana are bringing back the sponsored banana, and this time it’s real. According to Destructoid, not only will the Chiquita logo grace some of the bananas in the game, but an advertisement for Super Monkey Ball will appear on 180 million real life banana stickers around the United States.

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Days after Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings teased some good news for Wii owners, Netflix has announced that its library of instant streaming videos will be playable on the Wii. No firm date was given, but Netflix says Wii playback is coming this spring. It’s the same deal that Playstation 3 owners got in November: You’ll need to request a disc from Netflix, which must be loaded in the console in order to stream the movies. There won’t be any additional costs beyond the Netflix plan itself, which starts at $8.99 for unlimited streaming and one mail-order DVD at a time. And one drawback that’s inherent to the Wii: Streaming is in 480p only. But hey, that’s better than dropping $100 on a Roku box, right?

Update: Netflix has made it official. It’ll bring instant streaming to the Wii this spring. Details here.

We’ve already heard rumors that streaming Netflix will come to the Wii, following its inclusion on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, but now Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings is weighing in, coy as ever. In a public interview with All Things Digital’s Peter Kafka at the Consumer Electronics Show last week, reported by Engadget, Hastings fielded a question about the prospects of Netflix working with Nintendo. “What about getting on Nintendo? What are your chances?” Kafka asked, to which Hastings replied, “Our chances are excellent.”

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Because no story on NBA Jam being remake for the Wii would be complete without recounting all those classic comments from the announcer, let’s get them all out of the way: “He’s heating up!” “He’s on fire!” “Boomshakalaka!” “Oooh Myyy!” “Is it the shoes?” “Razzle dazzle!” “From downtown!” “Jams it in!” “Can’t buy a bucket!” “Kaboom!” “Ugly shot!” “The nail in the coffin!”

Phew, now for the story: Electronic Arts confirmed that its EA Canada studio will attempt to revive the classic two-on-two basketball game in a Wii exclusive.

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An interview in the Asahi Simbun with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata unveiled some interesting bits of information regarding the next Legend of Zelda title on the Wii and a successor to the Nintendo DS handheld.

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Sega Studio Director Constantine Hantzopoulos stated in a recent 1Up podcast that mature games for the Wii didn’t quite work out.  According to Hantzopoulos, the company moved to develop mature titles for the notoriously minigame and kid-friendly platform because market research showed that there was a ready audience for it.

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