Nintendo Revolution

By Donald Kaufman Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, PS3 race ends with no winner? Is the biggest console war of the 21st century featuring Nintendo Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360 going to wind up in a three way tie? That's the surprising analysis that Midway's European marketing director, Al King explained to GamesIndustry.biz in a recent interview. Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft will wind up in a draw "because all of them are compelling, and all of them have got a slightly different alliance of publishers and developers that are developing content for each one," said King. "You can see the way Nintendo is skewing, and it's more mainstream, casual, female... Sony's skew is more hardcore, and Microsoft is left to go in either direction.

By SickrWii thank you, CapcomNintendo fans were put into a state of disbelief earlier this week when Capcom's Jun Takeuchi announced to online gaming publication Pro G that he was unsure if a new addition to the Resident Evil series was still on track for a Wii appearance. Nintendo fans can breathe again. Thankfully, those intrepid reporters at The Wiire weren’t content with Takeuchi-san's rather vague comment, so they decided to take matters into their own hands by contacting Capcom Europe to help clarify the matter. Once they got through to Capcom's offices they spoke to none other than Ben Le Rougetel, head of communications for Capcom Europe, who stated that there was a misunderstanding in the interview. Takeuchi-san thought the interviewee was referring to how likely it would be that we would see a version of Resident Evil 5 on the Wii, rather than a new IP in the series.

By Rupert Pupkin Wii very much hope so Ever since the revolutionary Wii controller hit the scene, Star Wars fans salivated at the thought of swinging the Wiimote around like a lightsaber. After all, if ever there was a controller custom made for some serious lightsaber action, it's Nintendo's. In May, LucasArts teased Gamasutra when asked directly about Star Wars on Wii: This question produced a number of knowing smiles around the room from LucasArts employees, followed by the comments: "We know" and "We are looking into it", as possible concepts for the game were discussed. However, the firm has not yet made any official announcements regarding planned Wii titles.

By Sickr News surfaced yesterday that Nintendo has made a decision that currently allows only first and second party titles to feature online play at the Wii launch. This move was announced in an interview with Activision via online gaming publication IGN. Activision stated that Nintendo has decided to remain heavy handed on who has access to the online code libraries for Wi-Fi based play, and will continue to remain so until 2007. This decision will prove to be a blow for developers such as Ubisoft whose first person launch titles Red Steel and Far Cry would benefit greatly with the acquisition of online play. I imagine the development teams were aware of this predicament from an early stage, as Nintendo has always been extremely cautious about gaming online.

By Marcy Franklin Wii want our Elebits! Let those other next-gen consoles like PS3 and Xbox 360 and have their Halos and their GTAs; as long as Wii puts out titles like Elebits, I'm a happy camper. I can't wait to get my energy particle gathering groove on! Here's the latest 'bits info by way of Konami:

By Sickr September 14th 2006 is set to be an extremely important date for the games industry, as Nintendo is set to host a press only event in which many expect concrete details to surface in regards to Nintendo’s launch strategy for Wii. News of the event (via 1UP), as expected, has shot across the Internet with gamers speculating just what they believe Nintendo will reveal. Earlier this year, the company announced that they would publicly reveal the release date and pricing details for Wii in September. This led many to presume that an event such as this would take place. Nintendo of America’s President Reggie Fils-Aime has promised that he will be attending the event in person. This very well may confirm that Nintendo is finally going to share with the press and public alike just when they intend to launch the console, and all importantly for what price.

By Rupert Pupkin Pink DS Lite...will the pink ever end? Pink seems to be the new pink these days, with Nintendo announcing a new Coral Pink DS Lite today. Previously Sony had announced that they were putting out not only a similarly colored PlayStation 2, but also a Pepto Bismol colored PSP as well. That's a whole lotta pink. To help balance things out for gamers who aren't into the color, the big N also is putting out an Onyx DS as well. Personally, since I'm not a nine year old girl, that's probably the one I'll be purchasing. From Nintendo: The only thing more fun than new Nintendo DS Lite hardware colors is trying to keep up with the breakneck sales of the software to play on the popular little portable! On Sept. 13, two new colors – Onyx and Coral Pink – join Polar White, which is enjoying its own incredible sales peak and getting noticed everywhere.

By Sickr Judging from the multitude of responses on various websites and forums I visited yesterday, it seems the majority of Nintendo fans walked away from the "Wii Prove Our Promises" press conference bitterly disappointed The general consensus for this disappointment stemmed around Nintendo deciding to withhold any expected launch or pricing details for its forthcoming next generation console, the Wii. The reason it appears was not to continue to keep us in suspense, but simply put, Nintendo still haven’t decided on a final price point for the console. Nintendo Germany’s general manager, Bernd Fakesch reiterated this point by telling Gamesindustry.biz, "The price has not been decided yet, but I expect it to be…less than 250 euros." This announcement has conflicted with previous pricing reports from Nintendo themselves, and also behemoth publisher and developer EA. Fakesh also revealed as long rumored that the launch date has also yet to be finalized but the console will be arriving "in due course."

By Jerry Mitchell Wii prove our soccer games Way back on August 5th, we had reported that Nintendo was working on a new SMS sequel on Wii. It's nothing to brag about, since we got the information straight from IGN. Now it's official. Mario Strikers Charged (which is a temporary title, thankfully) has been announced at Leipzig. Here's the details from Nintendo: Take to the pitch as Mario Strikers Charged returns with an all new roster of features, only for Wii. Use the skill the Wiimote and Nunchuk Controller provide to win the ball, score unstoppable goals and take control of the goal keeper to perform spectacular saves

By Jerry Mitchell Wii Mario Strikers Charged Nitty Gritty Back on August 5th, we had reported that Nintendo was working on a Super Mario Strikers sequel for Wii. It's nothing to brag about, since we got the information straight from IGN. Now it's official. Mario Strikers Charged (which is a temporary title, thankfully) has been announced at Leipzig for Wii. Here's the details from Nintendo: Take to the pitch as Mario Strikers Charged (the follow up title to Mario Smash Football) returns with an all new roster of features, only for Wii. Use the skill the Wii Remote and Nunchuk Controller provide to win the ball, score unstoppable goals and take control of the goal keeper to perform spectacular saves

By Jerry Mitchell Sequel to GameCube sleeper headed to Wii There wasn't really a lot of meaty information from Nintendo at the "Wii Prove Our Promise" from the Games Convention in Leipzig, but at least they announced that Battalion Wars 2 is coming to Wii. BWii (You just know how cute they think that abbreviation looks) is a sequel to the GameCube sleeper that was both a third-person shooter and a real-time strategy game. Naturally, the Wiimote will potentially allow the game to truly blossom into the fun game that nobody appreciated the first time around. Here's the fact sheet from the big N: Tricked into believing that the Solar Empire is developing a devastating super-weapon, Commander Pierce and Colonel Windsor of the Anglo Isles launch a pre-emptive strike on the Coral Atolls. The world is once again at war.

By Sickr Nintendo Wii lack o' news Fresh from Nintendo’s rather disappointing Leipzig press conference “Wii Prove Our Promise”, Nintendo decided to unveil that it’s currently set to unleash the pink DS Lite in Europe onOctober 27th, just in time for the all important festive period. News also surfaced that as previously reported here, there is currently set to be another addition to the Super Mario Strikers series, this time for the Wii. The new addition is tentatively titled Mario Strikers Charged, and is set to feature the expected mandatory "over the top" special moves mixed with an arcade feel. Graphically, the title appears to be very similar to its GameCube predecessor.

By John Finnegan Edge used their noodles We just received official notice that the EIEF Edge Award has been handed out, and big prize went to Brain Training for Nintendo DS. Obviously, the judges brains were trained enough to realize just how marvelous this title truly is. “The Edge Award shortlist is always an eclectic mix, but this year’s was particularly wide-ranging,” said Margaret Robertson, editor of leading games magazine Edge. “We’re delighted that Brain Training won – it’s a great ambassador for gaming and proves that the instincts for making rewarding and entertaining software that Nintendo has honed for decades can be applied in entirely unexpected ways.”

By Feelno What to expect on Nintendo Wii Nobody can deny the fact that the Nintendo Wii is stirring everyone's imaginations. What once was a systematic progression within each game series and console in the video game world, with each succeeding game and console getting a little more complex and better visually than the last, has now been disrupted by Nintendo's newest console- and for the better. The Mario Kart series progressed much like any other game series. Each installment featured new courses, a couple of new characters, new items (or old ones taken away), and slightly superior graphics. Consider this: The only major change in gameplay between Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64 was the control stick, which enabled boosting (which is now referred to as "snaking" by Mario Kart DS players) by turning and moving the control stick around. Mario Kart on the Gameboy Advance was simply an upgrade of Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, aside from having two people in the kart, was essentially the same as Mario Kart 64, and Mario Kart DS is essentially Mario Kart 64 without the control stick.

By Sickr Nintendo Wii on the cheap EA, one of the biggest players within the video game industry, went on record yesterday to say that it believes Nintendo is set to launch the Wii at $170 according to GI. Much speculation has arisen in the past over the pricing of Nintendo’s forthcoming console. The company has continued to remain tight lipped as to how much consumers will have to pay, statiting only that it will be affordable. EA’s Executive VP and COO, David Gardner mentioned that he believed the Japanese price point for the console was currently set at $170, but was reasonably unsure as to how much the machine is set to retail for in Europe.

By Marcy Franklin Miyamoto says Wii perfect for GameCube remakes Wii is once again embracing the past, as Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto has said in a recent interview with Nintendo Dream (translated by IGN) that some GameCube titles will get a rebirth on the new console. He believes that the transition from GC to Wii will be seamless. "The machine is based on GC," said Miyamoto. "We'll be upgrading the development tools, but GameCube code can be used for the most part as is. In that sense, I believe that it would be good to remake GameCube games for Wii, and that some titles would become better with the change to the Wii remote controller."

By Rupert Pupkin System 3 Going Wii: California Games and Impossible Mission Nintendo Wii is getting a blast from the past from the days of Commodore 64; Impossible Mission and California Games are making a comeback. And Nintendo Wii is the only next-gen console to be getting these classic Epyx games because "The way the controllers work and the whole idea of it actually works a lot better than if it's on the PS3 or 360," System 3's Mark Kale told Gamespot. The titles will be remakes, but don't expect major revamping from what the games great back in the 80's. "You gotta keep the gameplay mechanics the same or else it ceases to be the original game and you're only using the game brand to sell games," explained Kale. "It ceases to be Impossible Mission or California Games or what have you. ... What we're doing is we're incorporating the original gameplay and mechanics and bringing the gameplay up to date."

By Sickr Wii ahead of PS3? Last year we saw a next generation console launch with a minimalistic amount of hardware in stock. Subsequently, because of production shortages, prospective gamers were forced to purchase rival consoles or to simply go without. Nintendo couldn’t help but notice the mistakes Microsoft made with the Xbox 360 launch, and has therefore decided to start production on its next generation console as early as possible. A recent online discovery (via Go Nintendo) reveals that Nintendo may have started production of its next generation console as early as July. A recent job posting would appear to confirm that the company is currently looking for workers on Nintendo's console manufacturing assembly lines to help produce and assemble the Wii:

By Donald Kaufman Yankee Group says PS3, Xbox 360, then Nintendo Wii Because we're a website titled Nintendo Wii News, we sometimes get accused of only reporting positive news about Nintendo Wii. But if you read through our archives, you'll see that we try to tell it like it is; we don't see the world through Nintendo colored glasses. And today's a perfect example. Gamesindustry.biz is reporting that the Yankee Group, a market analyst firm, recently came out with predictions on how the next gen battle royale is going to go down. The group went on record as saying that PS3 will be victorious by the time 2011 comes around, followed closely by Xbox 360. They see Wii as being monumentally far behind.

By Sickr Miyamoto wants Nintendo Wii SSBB with Sonic If there is one character that gamers the world over would love to see included in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii, it would have to be Sega’s very own spiky blue mascot: Sonic The Hedgehog. QJ is reporting that in a recent interview with Shigeru Miyamoto courtesy of Tip and Tricks magazine, Miyamoto revealed that Sonic was the most requested character by fans to appear in the forthcoming iteration of the melee based beat ‘em up.