Video game reviews: We Cheer (Wii)

I resisted buying a gaming console for many years. I figured I got enough gaming pleasure from my personal computer without having to spend hundreds of dollars more on a console. That all changed when the Wii came out. With it's unique motion-sensing controller, fitness games become possible and the sports games I once sneered at actually became fun.

We Cheer by Namco Bandai is a perfect example of one of these 'get off the couch' games. Here, you play the captain of a cheerleading squad trying to win a cheerleading competition.

To play, you hold your Wii remotes the same way you would hold pom-poms. Lines indicating the direction you have to move your controllers will appear on the screen along with a star. You'll move your controllers in time with the star that travels along those lines. That sounds confusing but, if you follow the motions of the cheerleader onscreen, it's easy to understand while you're playing.

There are three different modes in We Cheer. In Championship mode, you progress through different stages. As you clear the initial songs available to you, more songs are unlocked. Once you've cleared a song in normal mode, a hard mode is unlocked. Cheer Off mode is basically multiplayer mode. Two to four people can try to beat each other in a dance off. Though there's no penalty for failing, a single player can also learn the cheer routine of a particular song without the pressure of Championship mode here. While I'm not crazy about Workout Mode as an actual aerobic workout, it works great as a tutorial since the moves are much more simple and repetitive than the dance routines.

You can customize your character, the four other squad members, and how they're dressed. Though there's no Mii support, you can pick from a variety of characters for yourself and your squad. Also, as you clear various songs in Championship and Workout mode, new squad members will volunteer to join your team and different uniforms will become available to the squad.

One nice feature of the game is that the player uses two Wii remotes instead of the nunchuk. Performing most of the cheers requires full motion of both arms and the cord between a Wii remote and a nunchuk would restrict movement. You can use just one remote but, honestly, using two feels more realistic.

The only criticism I have of We Cheer is the loading and dialogue screens. They appear before and after every song. While it only takes a few seconds to skip through the dialogue screens and wait for the game to load, it becomes annoying after you play through a song a few times.

Considering its theme, it's not surprising that We Cheer is obviously marketed at young girls. The graphics feature cute cartoon characters and peppy pop and dance music. The (sometimes annoying) dialogue is what you'd expect from a stereotypical teen cheerleader. Being a 35 year-old female, I have to admit that I feel a bit silly playing it. I can only imagine how most teenage boys would react to the thought. But, if you can get over the silly stereotypes, We Cheer is one of the best sports games I've come across on the Wii.

9/10 stars

Xbox 360 Red Ring Of Death – Causes, Prevention And Fix

There have been a lot of questions on the internet as to how to fix or repair Xbox 360 red lights or red ring of death error. Working as a test engineer and testing Xbox 360 games every day, I got interested: my Xbox 360 at work has never experienced such a problem, but after consulting my colleagues I understood that the issue is far from being resolved. So, I tried my best to disclose the red ring of death mystery and offer some methods to help those who are in despair.

THREE RED LIGHTS ISSUE CAUSES

I found out top 3 reasons why Xbox 360 red ring of death error appears.

Reason 1: Overheating

It is evident overheating may damage electronics and Xbox 360 console has got the same components inside as a high-end gaming personal computer.

Reason 2: Poor Xbox 360 graphics processor unit technical side

Your console video card may require too much cooling, and the fan might not cope with that task.

Reason 3: Bad Power Brick Position

The power brick in the console may be responsible for overheating.

3 RED LIGHTS ERROR PREVENTION

In order to prevent the red ring of death error you are advised:

* To keep your console far from heating devices like radiators,

* Not to keep your power brick on the floor,

* To use additional fans or other cooling devices available on the market.

XBOX 360 RED RING OF DEATH FIX

You are sure to have heard about several ways to fix Xbox 360 red lights issue if you have been studying the topic for at least some hours. You should have then found out something about the "towel" method, which I find exotic and really harmful. After finding out that the problem consists in overheating one should be crazy to cover his or her Xbox 360 console into a towel!

The only safe way to fix the red lights issue is to exchange your console for a new working one. It is possible as Microsoft released a statement formally announcing the problem and offered a 3-year warranty for this specific fault. The only down side of this was that the console had to be sent back to Microsoft, who would then send a new one "within a few weeks". You are getting a free Xbox 360 console with free shipping so really there is no real harm in choosing this option.

If your MS warranty is void, you might need to try the ways to repair your Xbox 360 console yourself. The Do-It-Yourself way consists in taking Xbox 360 apart and then reassembling it. It is possible to do everything using a mere screwdriver. All you have to do is to take the cover off, take the hard drive out, leave the console like this for some time and then reassemble the console. This way may guarantee that your console will work as usual if the red ring of death appeared due to overheating, and as you see overheating is the major 3 red lights error cause.

If that doesn't help, you had better try looking for a new console as your console might suffer from a hardware failure that cannot be fixed using usual house tools.

Is it safe to buy Wii Points online on the virtual console?

R C asked:


My son wants to buy some Wii Points online on the virtual console. The only way I can do this is by entering my credit card info online. However, I'm not sure about buying anything online with a credit card on the Wii system. Is it the same risk as personal computer or riskier. If you know a website with consumer reports please post them.

Where To Buy Cheap Wii Consoles?