Wii; £24.99; cert 3+; Ubisoft

If we're being honest, you probably already know if Dance on Broadway is for you. When you went to open this review you were almost certainly looking for one of two things: justification for a purchase already decided on (or perhaps already made), or justification for your disdain.

Last November Ubisoft released Just Dance to underwhelming reviews but some of the best sales figures ever achieved by a third-party publisher for the Wii. With Just Dance 2 pencilled in for an October release, Dance on Broadway is a straightforward gap-filler – a quick and easy title certain to generate some revenue while also helping build anticipation for the main event.

The gameplay is almost identical to Just Dance, with players mimicking the actions of on-screen dancers, while holding a Wiimote. Just as with the former title, this feels entirely inadequate. Good dancing requires the whole body to move in unison, yet the nature of the hardware means that Dance on Broadway can only ever judge your performance on the basis of one limb. Even this is not done well.

At one point early on, while getting to grips with the concept, I found myself standing perfectly still, yet repeatedly being scored "great" for movements I hadn't even made. Knowing this, it was hard to shake the feeling that all subsequent successes or failures were rather arbitrary and at times it felt as though accidental motions were just as likely to be rewarded as intended ones.

From a presentation standpoint the game looks fine, if hardly inspiring, though the silhouetted images that appear along the bottom of the screen to warn you what moves are coming up can be more confusing than helpful. In terms of depth, the game offers little – with 20 show tunes to choose from but no career mode and nothing to unlock.

Yet this game will appeal to fans of Just Dance, of show tunes, and of games that provide an excuse to get up and throw yourself around your front room. Lyrics are displayed during the songs to allow players to sing along and as a party game it will provide plenty of cheap giggles. Some people will love it. And they knew they would from the moment they saw the title.

Rating: 2/5

Recently Nike -- a shoe company that seems to enjoy a side dish of tech from time to time -- challenged 78 artists to "hack" its shoes and come up with something decidedly different than your typical Air Force Ones. Now, a lot of the projects were more art and less tech, but that can't be said for entrant Nick Marsh's contribution to the experiment. The designer fused the internals of a Wii Balance Board with a pair of Air Maxes to create a gaming experience that may not be nuanced, but certainly seems capable of making you break a sweat. According to Nick, games are played exactly as they would have been previously, but since you can't step of the board, you're required to lift your foot or sit down when you need to back off on the pressure. Nick finished the project in April, but it sounds like a slightly more polished version could be in the offing. Check out a quick video of the shoes in action after the break, and hit the source for a slew of pics.

Continue reading Nike Air Maxes get a Wii Balance Board infusion

Nike Air Maxes get a Wii Balance Board infusion originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The last time we plugged in our Nintendo DSi to recharge it all we got as thanks was a little light. It turned on, the electrons flowed, and we continued our humble existence. Just think how much more exciting that menial act could have been if only we had this sucker. Hori's Pikachu charger accepts a DSi or DSi XL into its faux-poké ball slot and, presumably, jumps up and down excitedly as lightning bolts dance from its maniacal little fingertips to juice up your dead cell. Or, maybe it just pulls power from an AC adapter and sends it through the connector. Either way, it's certainly more exciting than most other simple charging stands we've seen but, at 3,981 yen (just shy of $50), it's also rather more expensive.

Pikachu is really, really excited to charge your Nintendo DSi originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When a beloved console like the Sega Dreamcast rises from the ashes it's not a huge surprise, but we never thought we'd see the day when the homebrew community would unearth Nintendo's Virtual Boy. Behold: the Flashboy Plus, the second of two flash carts developed specifically to spur development for Nintendo's original stereoscopic system, featuring a new backup battery (unlike the 2007 original) and a full 16Mbit of memory, reportedly enough to fit any one of the system's 22 commercially released games. Since the battery only keeps one save state stored at a time and there's no way to read the battery-backed memory, you'll still have to finish one game before you start another, but at least this way you don't lose your progress every time you shut the system off. Believe it or not, the first batch of 50 units has already been spoken for, but you haven't necessarily missed out yet; €90 (about $113) is your ticket to an elite (read: tiny) virtual utopia of piracy and homebrew when the second set ships at year's end.

Flashboy Plus revives Nintendo's Virtual Boy, literally one game at a time originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's not that we haven't seen a one-handed controller before -- we most certainly have -- but the only significant one on record was done by one Benjamin Heckendorn, the greatest modder of the modern era. In other words, whipping something like this up takes more than a strong will and a boatload of vacation days, making Hasse's hack all the more impressive. As the story goes, his brother is incapable of playing video games due to needing two hands to work the controls; rather than chalking it up to tough luck, this guy completely re-engineered a GameCube controller for single-handed operation. After cracking it open and relocating a few bits and pieces, he then shoved an ATtiny44A, an accelerometer and a digital-to-analog converter within. Crazier still, he even included a toggle switch to select the analog stick or D-pad, depending on preference. Head on past the break to see this thing in action, and tap that source link to leave a handful of kudos.

Continue reading Modder, brother-of-the-year candidate crafts one-handed GameCube controller (video)

Modder, brother-of-the-year candidate crafts one-handed GameCube controller (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Gorilla goes hands-on with Nintendo DSi XL at the San Francisco Zoo

Gorilla goes hands-on with Nintendo DSi XL at the San Francisco Zoo originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Aug 2010 19:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Look, it's summer break. What better to do than learn a little piano in preparation for the upcoming release of Harmonix's Rock Band 3? The next installment -- which promises to bring all sorts of new kit to the market -- was finally given a release date today, and not surprisingly, it'll be quickly climbing the Santa Lists of rug-rats the world over. According to the company, the title will ship on October 26th in North America, with the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 versions priced at $59.99 sans hardware and the DS rendition at $29.99. Hop on past the break if you're interested in learning about your wealth of pre-order options.

Continue reading Rock Band 3 crashing into living rooms on October 26

Rock Band 3 crashing into living rooms on October 26 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Free cases for all iPhone 4 users! How does Apple's fix compare to some of gaming's more recent hardware problem solutions? Let's take a look. More »

It may or may not actually be the most compact Nintendo 64 we've ever seen, but even if it's holding down the second spot, you can't knock the ingenuity here. Crafted by one Evil Nod, the self-proclaimed N Gear 64 is little more than an N64 console tucked, shoved and crammed inside a Sega Game Gear enclosure. Best of all, the modder somehow stuffed an N64 controller in there too, yet still left all of the original markings for nostalgia's sake. Head on past the jump for a video of it in action, or tap that source link to learn more about the build process. Riveting stuff, we tell ya.

[Thanks, Alon]

Continue reading Modded Game Gear becomes portable home for N64 (video)

Modded Game Gear becomes portable home for N64 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It may not be as glamorous a target as NYC, but the evil 8-bit forces have again gathered to wreak havoc. Except this time, with more shredding. More »