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Wii “Everybody Votes” Channel Launches. Wait, wha?!
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Reviews, Screenshots, Wii,
In a super-secret announcement last night, via the “Blue Light Special”, Wii’s around the country informed their owners of its newest feature - the “Everybody Votes” channel. “Huh?,” you say. We say the same… it appears that the big N is still very good at keeping their secret projects hush-hush. We had never seen anything like this channel demoed before, and there hadn’t been any talk of new channels launching this week.
So what is the “Everybody Votes” channel? Well, it’s a means for you to share your thoughts on questions posed by Nintendo HQ. You know, important things like “Do you like dogs or cats better?” and “Which is more romantic for Valentine’s day - Flowers or Chocolate?” Not only can you vote in each poll, you can also predict the outcome of each poll before the results are announced. You’re Mii is then given a score based on how good a predictor he/she is and how often they vote with the majority.
Unexpected? Yes. Super weird? Yes. Interesting possibilities? Indeed! Imagine if Nintendo actually starts using this channel to gauge interest in upcoming games, channels, or other content? This could be a great avenue for getting gamers’ thoughts on what they’d like to see on the console… all they need to do is just start asking the right questions (i.e. things that don’t have to do with ponies and lollipops).
The “Everybody Votes” channel is available through the Wii Shop Channel under “Wii Ware” and is currently available for 0 Wii points. Please note that you have to perform a system update on your console first. This update allows you to register your Wii to a particular region within your country, which is used in the polling process. See more images of this peculiar new channel after the jump! (Apologies for the shaky-skew-cam, it’s harder than it would seem to hold a Wiimote and camera steady at the same time!
Click to continue reading Wii “Everybody Votes” Channel Launches. Wait, wha?!
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Nintendo Drops 3 NES Classics To Virtual Console
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, Retro, Wii,
This week’s Virtual Console release consists of three classic NES titles, all selling for 500 Wii Points. All three titles are platform games and represent some of the better releases for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Kirby’s Adventure started a franchise for Nintendo. Kid Icarus is another significant platformer in the NES pantheon and often causes gamers to wax nostalgic. Ice Climber fits more into the classic arcade gameplay model, but still offers some retro fun.
Nintendo’s full press release continues after the jump.
Click to continue reading Nintendo Drops 3 NES Classics To Virtual Console
Pachter Predicts Wii Over PS3 In January
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, PlayStation 3, Wii,
Michael Pachter at Wedbush Morgan is predicting that Nintendo’s Wii console sold significantly more units than the PS3 in January. He expects NPD numbers of around 500,000 Wii consoles sold to 300,000 Playstation 3 consoles sold by Sony. According to Gamasutra, the analyst is also predicting that game sales will increase year over year by 32%. Pachter believes that while the PS3 may be entering a lull, there is potential for sales of the console to rebound as hardware availability becomes more widely known, advertising increases, and better software titles emerge. Pachter also lays down his leading software title sales predictions as well. Of course, like many analysts, Michael Pachter’s predictions haven’t always been 100% accurate; he has admitted to overestimating Xbox 360 performance and also recanted predictions that there would not be a Bully sequel.
Read More 
| Gamasutra
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Reggie Talks Wii, DS At D.I.C.E.
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Wii,
Dean Takahashi of Mercury News was able to talk with Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas. Post-holiday, Fils-Aime seems to be confident about Nintendo’s success with both the Wii and the DS, and he discusses everything from sales figures, to those who label the Wii as merely a novelty, and the culture that is surrounding the Wii. According to Reggie, DS sales continue to grow beyond Nintendo’s ability to make more handhelds, “making millions a month, but the demand is above that.” He also believes that the Wii has the staying power to grow beyond the Xbox 360 user base, and that the upcoming release of Wii Play will drive sales further. Given that Nintendo still can’t seem to supply enough Wii consoles for the channel, this seems like a hard thing to judge. Reggie loves the inroads that the Wii has been making into pop culture, such as the Conan O’Brien / Serena Williams Wii Tennis battle. Apparently, online development kits have also made their way to developers at this point as well, so gamers can expect online play in the future. Overall, Reggie’s comments reflect a company that has done phenomenally well over the past holiday; Nintendo’s continued success depends on their ability to execute and stay on target.
Read More | Mercury News
Rockstar, Activision jump on Wii Bandwagon w/ ManHunt, Guitar Hero
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Activision, Corporate News, Music, Survival Horror, Take2, Wii,
Even with a strong launch and a significant amount of buzz, it’s still too early to say that Nintendo will necessarily become a favorite of third-party publishers. If today’s news is any indication, though, they’ve definitely made some headway. Yesterday, Rockstar Games (yes, THAT Rockstar Games of GTA fame) announced that they will be producing Manhunt 2 for the PSP, PS2, and Wii. While Manhunt definitely isn’t the best game Rockstar’s ever produced, this might mark the company’s first baby-steps towards producing more games for Nintendo’s consoles. Similarly, Activition recently announced strong support for the Wii, including a version of Guitar Hero that will likely be tailored to take advantage of Nintendo’s motion-sensitive Wiimote. From the company conference call:
The key difference in our strategy versus the prior cycle, is that in addition to full support on Sony and Microsoft platforms, we will aggressively target the Nintendo platforms consistent with our multi-platform strategy and Nintendo’s expected growth. In fiscal 2008, we will double our offerings on the DS and the Wii, including Spider-Man, Shrek, Transformers, and Guitar Hero.
With production costs for “truly” next-gen titles on the Xbox 360 and PS3 skyrocketing, it’ll be interesting to see if studios decide that they can make more money producing content for Nintendo’s fledgling console.
Read More 
| Take2 Games
Update: Fixed the headline, Killzone is definitely NOT heading Wii-ward. What was I smoking…
Read More | Activision Investor Relations via The Tanooki
Super Mario World Headlining Virtual Console Monday
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, Retro, Wii,
Nintendo’s Virtual Console releases for the week include titles for the Super Nintendo, Genesis, and TurboGrafx-16. Of main interest to gamers will be Nintendo’s Super Mario World, one of the original launch title for the Super NES and a strong entry in the Super Mario platformer franchise. The game, like other SNES titles, sells for 800 points. Also arriving this week is Gain Ground for the Sega Genesis at 800 points and VIGILANTE for the TurboGrafx-16 at 600 points.
Nintendo’s full press release continues after the jump.
Click to continue reading Super Mario World Headlining Virtual Console Monday
Konami Announces Dewy’s Adventure, Ridiculously Cute Wii Platformer
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Puzzle, Screenshots, Wii,
Konami’s been busting out the announcements today - first it was the PSP-bound Castlevania game, and now a brand new IP for the Nintendo Wii. The latest announcement regards Dewy’s Adventure, an action-platformer that features the story of a ridiculously lovable little water droplet on a quest to save the world or something.
Dewy’s super-powers are, of course, all water-based (you can cool him down to make ice presumably, or heat him up into steam, and Konami seems to be running with the Wii’s tilt-sensitive control mechanics. From the IGN interview:
While we can’t talk about all of his abilities, we can say that the game is controlled entirely using the Wii controller. You hold it [like Excite Truck] and tilt it to tilt the environment and move Dewy. The D-pad can be used to heat or cool Dewy. When Dewy is heated up, he becomes a cloud of steam. He can then strike enemies with bolts of lightning. You can also move the Wii controller in a fanning motion to create gusts of wind or in a side-to-side motion to create an earthquake. These can be used to solve hidden environmental puzzles and combat enemies. There are lots of more abilities that Dewy has, but we want to keep them secret for now.
This game comes from the same producer as Elebits which, even though it had its problems, was a solid launch title for the Wii. Dewy also looks like it will have pretty high replay value, thanks to a built-in level editor, WiiConnect24 support, and multiplayer levels. The game is expected to release in late 2007.
Now all we have to do is sit and wait for the “little drop of Wii” jokes to start pouring in…
Read More | IGN Wii
EA Confirms Spore For DS
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Electronic Arts, Nintendo DS, Wii,
EA confirmed their continuing commitment to both of Nintendo’s gaming platforms today. Next Generation reports that during EA’s conference call to investors, the company asserted that they are actively directing resources to publishing games on the Wii and the DS, including one of 2007’s most anticipated titles, Wil Wright’s Spore. The company did not suggest a release window for the game. Some of Maxis’ other “god-game” franchises were mentioned, including My Sims and SimCity. Assuming that Spore can live up to the hype, a version of the game on the DS would be yet another way for the handheld to expand its audience.
Read More | Next Generation
Show your Wii and Beatles fandom with a “Biitles” shirt
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Culture, Nintendo, Portable/Mobile, Wii,
Sometimes an item appears that’s so spectacularly nerdy and off-the-wall that it just HAS to be blogged. This is definitely one of them… if you happen to be a fan of Nintendo and the Beatles, and think it’s a good idea to represent John, Paul, George and Ringo in Mii form, then this is definitely the shirt for you!
If you’re a little more surreptitious about your fandom, you can still enjoy having Mii-ized version of the Beatles on your Wii. Over on the NerdyShirts website, they’ve got their Wii number posted on the description and their “Biitles” are ready to mingle! I might be adding them as friends later this evening… maybe I can even convince them to perform in the background while I’m Wii bowling.
Read More | NerdyShirts.com
Compete: Wii Interest Led Xbox 360, PS3 This Holiday
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Hardware, Internet, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360,
Microsoft’s Andre Vrignaud linked to an interesting study of online next-generation console interest published by online metric provider Complete. The analysis shows relative online interest in the three next-generation consoles as tracked via the Compete toolbar technology. According to the tracking numbers, both the Wii and the PS3 peaked around their launch date, with the Wii running up slightly more user interest. The Xbox 360 hit its popularity peak for the three months from November to January right around Thanksgiving, which would tie in somewhat to a number of promotions run around the Xbox 360 at this time. After the holiday season, all three consoles tail off in online click-through. The Wii still leads, but the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360 match nearly exactly. Further, it appears that Playstation 3 searchers are transferring to either the Xbox 360 or the Wii.
Overall, though, it is hard to gauge how accurately this tracks real-world purchasing. First, given that Compete gets its tracking numbers though the number of users that have installed the Compete Toolbar, it is hard to say how accurately this reflects the general Internet public. Secondly, given the difficulty in acquiring either a Playstation 3 or a Wii and both consoles’ lack of availability online, one would have a hard time tying an online visit into a retail conversion. A longer period of observation tied with real-world sales numbers as all consoles become readily available at retail will give a better indication of the correlation between online visits and actual sales numbers.
Read More | Compete via Ozymandias.com
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