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We Wonder: Will Wavebirds Work With Wii Without Wavebird Weceivers?
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Accessories, Nintendo, Nintendo Gamecube, Rumors, Wii, Wireless,
(With apologies for the gratuitous use of alliteration in the title) The good folks over at WiiFanboy have posted an interesting question based on some recent quotes from the August issue of Nintendo Power. A survey in that issue supposedly asks as part of a Player’s Poll Sweepstakes:
Which of the following Wii control features or functions is of the greatest interest to you?
And then goes on to list the following as an option:
6. Compatibility with WaveBird for playing Gamecube titles.
It’s not clear exactly what that means - this could just mean that yes, the Gamecube controller ports on top of the Wii will be placed such that the Wavebird receiver still fits. However, it leads some folks to an interesting bit of speculation that perhaps the Wii could support the Wavebird controller without a receiver plugged in. Such functionality would definitely be a neat touch and would give the console a much cleaner look for Wavebird owners. Given that the Wavebird controllers use RF communication unlike the Wiimote, which uses Bluetooth, this would require a little extra engineering and probably some more FCC approval. Still I for one hope that Nintendo realized what a good idea this could be.
Read More 
| NintendoWiiFanboy.com
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EA Support for Wii Grows to Six Titles
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Adventure, Corporate News, Nintendo, Sports, Third Person Shooters, Wii,
Nintendo may still be the console underdog in the next-gen race, but Electronic Arts has dropped some more good news for those folks rooting for the Wii. In a recent statement, EA announced that they will be developing 4 newly-announced titles, bringing their commitment up to 6 titles once you include the already-announced Madden and Need for Speed: Carbon. The new games are from the Harry Potter, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, SSX, and Godfather franchises. Straight from the release:
“Once we started to experiment with Madden on Wii, there was an explosion of innovation. Everyone in the studio is energized by the creative opportunity afforded by both the hardware and controller. By reaching into our catalogue, we are able to bring a fresh and distinctive experience to some of EA’s most popular franchises. Creatively, the game play possibilities are staggering and endless,” said John Schappert, Senior Vice President and General Manager, EA.
So for those worried about graphically toned-down ports of PS3 titles that use the “classic” controller, it sounds like your fears have been allayed. EA most likely will find innovative ways to use the Wiimote and nunchuk attachment to bring these games to life.
Though I’m usually none too excited about sports titles, the addition of Tiger Woods is huge - ever since the Wiimote was announced folks have been talking about how it could be used creatively for sports games like golf and tennis, and it’s great to see the first real golf game (read: not Wii Sports: Golf) that will take advantage of the control system.
Read More | EA Press Release via Gamespot.com
A secret informant has apparently told Kotaku that the development schedule for one of the Wii game titles has been reduced drastically. The ship schedule shrinkage has team members believing that an October release will be likely. With final hardware component production started, Nintendo could probably have the Wii out the door by October. Any breathing room that Nintendo can get from Sony’s launch would be a good thing, allowing Nintendo to avoid the vast monetary black hole that the Playstation 3 bundles will generate. Most analysts have predicted an early November release anyway; pushing forward the launch into October might be doable.
Read More | Kotaku
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The new control scheme for Madden 07 on Nintendo’s Wii is now available. The control system is called “Freemotion”, and relies heavily on the motion sensing abilities of the Wiimote. The new control scheme is impressive and appears very intuitive. “Freemotion” may be the first control scheme since the original NES that allows me to challenge my Dad to a match of videogame football. Video Game Generation has more screenshots and details on Madden 07 for the Nintendo Wii.
Read More | Video Game Generation
CNET has published their “Worst Tech of Q2 2006” top ten list, and four game or game-related technologies make the list. Nyko’s Intelligent Remote 360 is the top game-related offender at number 2 on the chart. The remote control makes it for “Worst use of the word intelligent,” which, if you have tried to use this remote, makes a lot of sense. At number 4 is And 1 Streetball for “Worst electronic referees” and X-Men: The Official Game gets dinged for “Worst Game Based on a Movie.” Finally, the last game-related entry is the Nintendo Wii at number nine, garnering the title “Worst name change.” While the name change shocked a lot of gamers, Infinium’s announced name change to Phantom Entertainment had to be in the running for this narrow category. For a company that has been synonymous with vaporware to change its name to something as ephemeral as a phantom may have been too easy of a target. CNET’s weird quarterly restriction feels kind of like when a restaurant names itself “Best Barbeque On the Block”; the attribution may be true, but is ultimately meaningless.
GameFly is Ready For Next Gen
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Internet, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Release Dates, Wii,
So what if you don’t own the systems yet…you might as well start reserving the PS3 and Wii launch titles! Gamefly.com, one of the leaders in online gaming rental, has recently added PS3 and Wii tabs to their site meaning that you can currently put your favorite PS3 and Wii games at the top of your queue so that you don’t miss out when they ship. Somehow, I’m guessing they might run into some shortages when these games first come out.
Currently, GameFly.com is sporting 26 titles for the Playstation 3 and 27 titles for the Wii. (All, of course, “coming soon”) The full list of titles available can be found after the jump.
Click to continue reading GameFly is Ready For Next Gen
Read More | GameFly.com
Recently, the release date waters have been churning for Nintendo’s Wii console. First, Sports Illustrated Kids said that the date would be November 6, 2006. Then, Chris Morris over at CNN/Money suggested that the Wii could possibly launch as early as September. Using the fact that analyst P. J. McNealy believed that the Wii was already in production and combining this with the short production window for the Xbox 360, Morris suggested that Nintendo could theoretically have the Wii on store shelves much earlier than anticipated. Today, through Bloomberg News, Nintendo spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa reaffirmed that Nintendo was still on track for a fourth-quarter release date. Nintendo plans to announce the release date and price of the Wii in September, and that “may be causing some confusion.” This doesn’t officially invalidate the Sports Illustrated launch date, but it does seem to make September a long shot. Late October or early November does seem to be the more likely launch window.
Read More | Bloomberg News
Nintendo DS: Fastest Selling Console in Japan
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo DS, Wii,
According to Japanese market research firm Media Create, the Nintendo DS is on track to sell 10 million units in Japan by August. Club Skill translates the article, saying the combined sales of the DS and DS Lite would be the fastest to reach that benchmark ever. The immense popularity of the DS has colored the announcements of Nintendo and its partners; Satoru Iwata recently had to confirm for shareholders that the production of the Nintendo Wii would not impact DS manufacturing. Square Enix also had to verify for a nervous public that they were working with Nintendo to make sure there would be enough production of the DS for their launch of Final Fantasy III. Nintendo has already sold more than 16 million DS consoles worldwide, most of that in the US and Japanese territories.
Read More | Club Skill
New Videos of WarioWare Smooth Moves (Wii) In Action
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Hardware, Nintendo, Screenshots, Trailers, Wii,
The good folks over at GoNintendo.com have posted some videos from the recent demos over in Spain. Watch someone actually play WarioWare and look like a doofus doing it!! (Which is, of course, half the fun…I’m really looking forward to this game).
Overall, the controls appear to be quite responsive to each of the different actions. Of course, the controller can pick up major shakes and slices, but the part where he twists the key in the door would appear to require a very fine level of resolution. Also, there are some micro-games on display here that use the pointer functionality, and they appear to do quite well also. Really, this just makes me want to get my hands on the controller again. For those of us that couldn’t make it to E3, we can only hope that Nintendo continues bringing this show on the road and spreading the good word of the Wii!
Read More | GoNintendo.com
Red Steel Producer Blogging At IGN
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: First Person Shooters, Wii,
Marie-Sol Beaudry, producer of Red Steel, has started a developer blog on IGN. For her first entry, she discusses how the Wii controller is being utilized for the sword and gun fighting first person shooter. She states, “…everything we’re doing in the game is directly effected by the controller… everything from level design, overall game design, movement [to] storyline.”
On the development of the game: “shooting was…straight forward, point-and-shoot…the sword play…proved to be a true challenge.” From the feedback that Ubisoft received at E3, this seems clear. Still, the developers seem to have taken the responses to heart and are tweaking the controls. Sword fighting should see an improvement with “more diversity in movements and a couple of special moves…” Beaudry is coy on this point, and gamers who want to find out more will have to wait for a future installment.
Read More | IGN
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