The shiny Nintendo console was delivered to Buckingham Palace today as part of a marketing stunt meant to promote BIG Family Games, the latest title in THQ's BIG series. The game contains 24 classic family games, from lawn darts to bocce, which THQ product manager Danielle Robinson hopes the Royal Family will enjoy.

"BIG Family Games is the ultimate Wii game to get all family members, from grandparents to young children, playing together. The Royal Family is arguably the most important family in the country so we felt that they had to have a copy of the new game. But we thought that Her Majesty the Queen wouldn't want to play on any old console, so an extra-special gold one was commissioned. We hope that she and the rest of the Royal Family enjoy the game!"

Of course chances of Her Royal Highness ever touching the console, let alone playing it are somewhere between slim and none, even if she has shown interest in the console in the past. Maybe they'll trade it with President Obama the next time he shows up with iPods.

Planetary patrol officer Rallen returns the in the next evolution of the Spectrobes franchise, continuing his adventures from the first two titles on the DS - Spectrobes and Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals. Origins will feature an epic story that uses flashbacks to reveal secrets from the past, with Rallen and his Spectrobe companions taking on enemies in large-scale real-time battles.

The fossil excavation mechanic from the DS titles returns in origins, only this time the fossils are three dimensional, which should make uncovering them a bit more than simply tapping the screen repeatedly.

"The popularity and creativity of the Wii platform make it the perfect stage for this exciting evolution of the Spectrobes franchise," said Craig Relyea, senior vice president of global marketing, Disney Interactive Studios. "Spectrobes: Origins delivers the immersive storytelling, dynamic action and memorable characters that audiences have come to expect of Disney entertainment."

Can't say I'm surprised, really. The Spectrobes series had Wii written all over it from the get-go. It was only a matter of time. Look for more information on Spectrobes: Origins as we get closer to the game's Fall 2009 launch.

We at Kotaku cannot let the leader of the free world be caught on television playing the likes of Ninjabread Man or Pet Pals Animal Doctor, so we've compiled a list of games that are not only going to keep the President entertained, but could also help bolster his image in the eyes of the citizens of this great nation that really matter: The gamers.

Puzzles and Brain-Training

Nintendo had the right idea when they gifted President George W. Bush with a Nintendo DS and a copy of Brain Age. The key here is to actually use it. What better way to come as an intellectual, problem solving sort of world leader than to spend your free time exercising your thinking abilities.

Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? - This childish take on the quiz show provides two opportunities for the President to excel. If he wins, he's got a good head on his shoulders. If he loses, he's a bit easier for us to relate to.

My Word Coach - Every President should have their own personal Word Coach. Everyone is watching, and one slip of the tongue and you've got a quote you'll never live down.

Rubik's World - In the world of international politics, one needs a sharp mind that can take all of the twists and turns and change them into something a bit more familiar. That's what Rubik's World is all about.

Health and Fitness

The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports was formed in 1956, with a goal to "promote, encourage and motivate Americans of all ages to become physically active and participate in sports". With a growing number of Americans turning to video games for their entertainment, President Obama is in an excellent position to encourage gamers to use their Nintendo Wii and DS to stay physically fit.

Wii Fit - Even if the President doesn't like the games included with Nintendo's take on the fitness genre, it comes packed with the Wii balance board, which is nearly a requirement for any health-conscious world leader.

Wii Sports - The original sports game for the Nintendo Wii, packaged inside the console conveniently so the President didn't even have to buy an additional game to enjoy a little bowling.

EA Sports Active - Due out in May, just in time for all of this inauguration excitement to die down, EA Sports Active is a complete workout trainer, with a packed-in resistance band that's bound to enhance any gaming photo ops that might arise.

Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2009 - The President can bring celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels into his home without the need for all of those intensive security checks with this balance board-centric workout program.

Staying Hip

Sure, mental and physical fitness are important, but the President doesn't just want to lump himself in with the rest of the casual gaming public. Here are a few titles that would earn him just a bit more gamer cred without hurting his repuation as the leader of the free world. Don't be afraid to let them know you've got games.

Rock Band 2 - The President has a family of four, giving him built-in bandmates for Harmonix's rhythm-action game, and the wide variety of available music means there's bound to be songs that even a commander-in-chief could love.

Boom Blox - Innocent fun for the whole family and an excellent way to work off a little stress after a long day of running one of the most prominent countries in the world.

Civilization Revolution - President Obama's run might not last eons, but it never hurts to get a little practice in. Once you manage an entire civilization for several centuries, running a country for four to eight years is a piece of cake.

The Secretary of Interactive Entertainment

My final suggestion? While the President picked a fine, family-friendly system to be the nation's first console, it is a system with a great deal of games that just aren't worth playing. The President should immediately appoint a Secretary of Interactive Entertainment in order to help him determine which games are good enough to grace White House television sets.

After all, we can't all sit around reading gaming blogs all day.

In an article in the New York Times in which our soon-to-be President predicts a Florida win over Oklahoma in tonight’s BCS championship game, it is revealed that Barack Obama's daughters received a shiny new Nintendo console when Santa Claus visited this year.

Mr. Obama said he’d have his hands full attempting to rescue the American economy. But he has gotten in a little practice in bowling lately on the Nintendo Wii his daughters received for Christmas. Mr. Obama, who famously struggled in bowling during last year’s Democratic primaries, said he performs better in the video game.

I don't know much about politics, but it gives me an amazing amount of warm fuzzies knowing there's going to be a game console in the White House.

Obama Predicts a Florida Victory [The New York Times via GameCulture]

Yes, hemp string. The exterior of this Wii Remote and Nunchuk are made out of "100% natural hemp", giving them a rustic, fuzzy, organic appearance. But the insides? 100% Nintendo-manufactured Wii Remote insides. This remote's accelerometer, infra-red and buttons are all fully armed and operational (if also exceedingly delicate).

Endtroducing: The Hemp-Mote [DHRECK]

Nintendo has been far too busy printing money and dreaming up strange new controllers to actually finish that DVD-on-Wii thing it has been promising for the last couple of years.

Happily, the homebrew community has stepped up and put together a Wii channel that will read a DVD disc and pipe it through the open source MPlayer media player.

It's not quite ready for prime time — the audio can sometimes get out of sync, although this is more a 'feature' of MPlayer than the fault of the hack, we suspect. Worth checking out, though, and it might just save Nintendo the bother of building something that nobody has really been crying out for but would be nice to have for free.

Homebrew Enables DVD Playback On Wii [Gemaga.com]

"One of the problems we’ve had over the years is we had no method to teach surgeons surgical skills without going into surgery," said Dr. Mark Smith, a co-developer and a gynecological surgeon at Banner Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix. "We now have simulators that help them develop those skills. The problem is they are incredibly expensive — like a flight simulator for a pilot. This gives us a much less costly way to train these fine motor skills that the surgeons employ during surgery."

WABC-TV in New York did a story on the Wii simulator, which includes video. News8 Austin, a Time-Warner cable news channel, also features a Q&A with Dr. Smith on its site (where we got the pic).

Nintendo Wii Improves Skills, Trains Surgeons [News8 Austin]
Surgeons Use Wii to Hone Skills [WABC-TV}

Pachter's reasoning, in comments to GamePro, is that the next-gen consoles are not truly mass-market items yet, and won't be until their price point dips to $199.

"Around 90% of last-generation console sales were made at the $199 price point or below," he says. "Only wealthy or hardcore gamers have purchased consoles so far, given that the PS3 is still $399, the 360 is still $349, and the Wii is still $249. When prices drop below $200 (probably in 2010), the mass market [for 360 and PS3] will emerge."

Pachter's been on the warpath for console price cuts, predicting a $50 drop this holiday season for the PS3 and 360 as the console makers try in vain to duplicate last year's stellar sales figures. He's also said the current next-gen line is going to drop below 10 percent growth by 2010 unless they lop $150 off current prices.

The Wii below $200, that's a solid bet. But good gosh, considering Sony's lost more than $3 billion so far, pricing the PS3 below its production cost, can anyone really think we'll see that unit below $200? Or the 360, for that matter? And if makers did follow his predictions, there would be about a one-year mass market for these consoles before market forces dictated the next next-gen console for us wealthy hardcore gamers, around 2011. If that's when these consoles finally enter the mass market, and how long they'll stay, how many good games will we really see in that span?

Price, not GTAIV to Blame for Slow PS3, 360 Sales Analyst Says [GamePro]

We definitely detect that they [gamers] are serious and we know there is an issue in this, so it's something that we're working on.

Great! So we're getting an external storage solution, then?

Uhh...no.

Definitely there's no plan to issue hardware, an external hard drive, but we know that we have an issue in that area. It's very obvious and we're perfectly aware of it, but there's nothing we can say beyond this.

How terribly cryptic. And terribly unhelpful.

Fischer: Nintendo "working on solution" to Wii storage issue [GI.biz]

Update: OK, got enough verifications on this to bump it up to "confirmed".

But BBB got hold of the video's poster and subsequent confirmation that PheroseSoft, a seven-person team made up of former devs for EA Canada Burnaby and Rockstar North, is developing something called "WiiMove." It should be available by WiiWare sometime after October this year, Balance Board Blog reports.

A representative of PheroseSoft told BBB that "the game looks to put an unexpected slant on the Wii Balance Board." Ya don't say. The video's after the jump.

Wii Move confirmed - developed by ex EA, Rockstar staff [BalanceBoardBlog, via ComputerandVideoGames.com]

Librarian Lauren says she does resemble Wii Fit Girl Lauren, enough that an employer who Googles her might have second thoughts about her temperament for a serious job. "If someone has my business card, and doesn't know what I look like, and they Google me, it looks like it's me, and that's my whole career down the tubes," she said.

She says she contacted Web sites writing about the Wii Fit Girl craze and asked them to remove her name, which is kind of problematic as "Lauren Bernat" is in fact the name of the 25-year-old marketer whose ass starred in the original video. So there's little that Librarian Lauren can do. Except, of course, challenge Marketer Lauren to a Wii Fit Off. And I'm sure that's all part of the plan here, too.

For the record, GTA: DUI hammered Wii Fit Girl for top viral video on G4's "Around the Net" on May 28. And even though I appeared shirtless in it, so far no one named Owen Good has been subjected to any online harassment. Including me.

Dammit.

"I'm NOT the Wii Fit Girl" [Crave]

Quoth Don:

Was the weight difference, a very noticeable one, messing with the ‘mote’s center-point?

Yes, in fact. Replacing the rechargeable pack with a standard set of crap-assed gas station batteries made our karts dead center again.

Now I’ve got to figure out how to add weight to my charger packs. That or play Kart at an odd angle.

So, fair warning, considering that the React dock runs about $50, if you Kart like hell and are considering eco-friendly ways to keep your 'Mote juiced. Does anyone else have the same kind of issue, or just this guy?

Peripheral Disdain [Videolamer, thanks taidan]

On Ubi's forums, a commenter complains, "we get no new Core-titles and when we get some like Shaun White Snowboarding it looks worse than SSX on the Cube. Doesnt really look like Ubisoft is trying to put some effort in it."

The moderator comes back with a well-what-do-you-expect argument, without saying exactly that. The Wii's a console parents buy for kids, he says. "Parents who are buying a console for their children do not really care about Prince of Persia, Rainbow Six or Far Cry on the box, they want games that are going to be good for their children and not get them in the local newspaper."

Then, quoting a bunch of sales figures, says Ubi's mindful of the Wii's growth market, which is casual gaming, not Assassin's Creed. "If you look at the most successful Wii games, they are not amazing new AAA games, they are predominantly family orientated [THIS IS NOT A WORD] games/alternative games."

I made a D in college logic, so I am amenable to corrections. But if I have it right, this is what the guy himself is saying

• Games that sell well on Wii are crappy (at least by "normal gamer" standards, as the questioner describes himself).
• Ubisoft makes games intending for them to sell well.
• Ubisoft makes games for the Wii.
• ... (profit!?)

Also, if you're a Wii gamer and think I'm pouring on the hate, your own people are sending around and signing a petition to demand Ubi make better games on the Wii. Sign it if you want, but I doubt it'll budge Ubi's Nintendo strategy. (Next up: Gerbilz!)

Finally, I like this plea:

"As for Shaun Whites on the Wii, can you at least wait to get some more information and gameplay on it before binning it? Most people have seen a few screenshots and they already hate it because it does not look as good as the 360 etc but to damn a game just because of looks, and without actually playing it is just silly."

No, actually, that's the status quo.

Do You Have Anything at All for Normal Wii-Gamers? [Ubisoft Forums, thanks mickifree93]

"Deathmatch Authorized," ... "About damn time." Is that a message? Maybe someone's getting a little impatient?

The Conduit: Videos [IGN, thanks reader Mark L.]

Reason for the delay: lengthen the development process to improve the quality of the product. That has back-to-the-drawing-board written all over it, IMHO. The game involves surviving/coping with repeated natural disaster strikes while taking down a rogue military unit that's seized a nuclear weapon — 24 meets The Day After Tomorrow meets The Core meets ... So it will need big visuals and super realistic physics to be a winner. Maybe that's the problem, who knows.

Disaster: Day of Crisis Delayed Indefinitely [Quickjump Network, thanks El Cernex]

Additionally, [Peakboo Rep Simon] Kay said the game probably won't involve Carmen Electra. When I asked if Electra was ever asked to be involved in the first place, the response was no. But is there a chance she could be involved in the future? "Unlikely... but not impossible," Kay said.

Wii Pole Dancing Intended for Fitness, Fun for Men and Women [MTV Multiplayer]

Not sure exactly what that means, but the game's publisher also told Edge, "We are investigating it very seriously. You would never see a port of the game we're making however. That'll never happen."

The unnamed Ubisoft spokesperson acknowledged that Prince of Persia: Two Thrones Rival Swords, last year's port of Rival Swords The Two Thrones, was a little disappointing. "The controls were not fully optimised, did not take full advantage of the Wii, but a lot of people saw the POP universe could certainly have a home on Wii."

Sounds like Ubisoft wants a do-over?

Ubi "Investigating" Bringing Prince of Persia to Wii [Nintendic]

Ah the Wiimote. An elegant weapon, not as clumsy or as random like a blaster. Paired with the Nunchuk, it's pretty awesome too, according to this video from G4, which got an exclusive hands-on with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for the Wii's duel mode. (Man that was a mouthful).

G4's reporter went as Luke Skywalker, duking it out in a TIE Fighter bay with Asajj Ventress There's saber-slashing and Force-choking galore, all arising from a pretty shrewd use of combinations and reverse moves in both controllers. It's not all lightning bolts and throws, either. Check out that old-school kick to the grill Luke delivers at the end.

The video says you'll get 9 different arenas and 27 characters to choose from, classics to the expanded universe. I know that LucasArts is promising exclusive gameplay for all consoles. But I had the two Jedi Knight games on Xbox, where lightsaber combat was a lot of button mashing and getting lucky. Honestly, if the purpose of this is to at last swing a lightsaber in 1:1 combat, then this is your baseline version.

It's probably going to make me buy a Wii. The question, will it make others do the same?

X-Play Exclusive: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for Wii [G4]

Innovating on that console is the key, Iwata explains. And if Nintendo can keep beating others to the punch on new ways to play new games, it will do just fine.

"What matters to us is whether or not we can continue to constantly create and offer new surprises one after another. If we can, then (other company's attempt to launch Wii Remote-like controller) should not be a big threat.

The efforts in this field to try to appeal to a wide variety of customers are something in which we saw potential early on and that we have been working on the longest, so there appears to be no reason whatsoever why we need to be concerned."

Iwata says that the video game space can be a risky place for new entrants — sure, no argument. But Microsoft is hardly some art-house developer looking for a break, and it's shown enormous tolerance for losing money here, too.

Still The $64,000 question here is more for Microsoft than Nintendo. Microsoft probably wants to use an "Xmote" to unify casual and hardcore gamers into buying a 360. Perhaps Sony thought the same thing too, and the SIXAXIS has gotten absolutely nowhere as an innovation on the PS3, where it is optional, not integral, to gaming.

Of course you can use a Wiimote for a driving game more serious than Mario Kart, but gamers have gotten by just fine without one. And there's such an orthdoxy to FPS controls now, I'm not sure it makes much difference. So, yes, a controller by itself means little. The titles that are written specifically for it, that is where the threat lies, and its something no one can estimate just yet.

Iwata Not Threatened by Rumored Xbox 360 Wiimote Clone [QJ.Net, thanks to El Cernex]