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Nintendo Offers Pre-Launch Component Video Cables
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Wii,
Some Nintendo fans, eager to get component video cables as quickly as possible, have e-mailed Nintendo about availability. GoNintendo has the full e-mail; according to them, Nintendo will be making a limited amount of component video cables available prior to launch to gamers who call into their Consumer Service line. Agents are available between 6:00 am and 7:00 pm Pacific Time, seven days a week. The cables will run $29.95, and will also be available in their online store on November 19th, with supplies to other retailers by mid-December.
Read More 
| GoNintendo
Gallery: Nintendo Offers Pre-Launch Component Video Cables
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First Wii Reviews Trickle In - Overall “Good” to “Impressive”
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Adventure, Nintendo, Party Games, SEGA, Wii,
Today some of the bigger gaming sites out there finally sat down with pencil and paper (or keyboard and mouse I guess), and started drafting out their reviews for the first batch of Wii games. Their overall thoughts? IGN has taken a look at three titles so far—the pack-in Wii Sports, Trauma Center, and Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz—and their reviews range from “Good” for Wii Sports (7.5) to “Impressive” for Trauma Center and Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (8.0 and 8.4, respectively).
In general, most of the reviews would play out like you would expect - generally somewhat lackluster / simple graphics, but cool/interesting control schemes that work flawlessly in most cases. IGN noted some control issues with the packed-in Wii Sports, stating that some of the sports seemed somewhat half-baked, but the other 2 titles faired very well in the control department. IGN even went so far with Monkey Ball as to state that “If you’ve been on the fence about the Wii controls, put those fears to rest. True, there is a different technique involved, but once you get the hang of it you will be flying through levels with precision and speed. Now that I’ve played through Banana Blitz, I would not want to go back to the older control configurations.”
We’ll keep our eyes peeled for further reviews - Red Steel and Zelda obviously being the two most interesting, and we’ll be posting our thoughts as well once we’re able to get our hands on the console!
Read More | IGN Wii
Gallery: First Wii Reviews Trickle In - Overall “Good” to “Impressive”
Wii With DVD Playback Coming in 2007?
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Hardware, Nintendo, Rumors, Wii,
Nintendo, ever the master of shooting itself in the foot, has quite possibly found the worst time to unveil some of their future plans for the Wii. Originally, way back in 2005 Nintendo stated that the Wii would have DVD playback, and the fans rejoiced - this was a much-lauded departure from Nintendo’s strategy with the Gamecube of focusing ONLY on gaming. After a long silence, Nintendo confirmed earlier this year that the Wii would NOT in fact have DVD playback. The reason given was that this would help to lower the cost of the console for consumers and ultimately wouldn’t make much of a difference, given that DVD player penetration is already quite high, worldwide.
Now comes the curious news… just today (barely a week before launch) Sonic Solutions announced that they had been tapped by Nintendo to create a DVD-playback solution for the Wii. The announcement stated that the Sonic Solutions will be working on a software-based playback method that will be released with an updated Wii console sometime in 2007. First of all, there’s the question of firmware updating - given that Nintendo has engineered a relatively flexible, updatable OS for the Wii, why hasn’t Nintendo thought about figuring out a way to implement this software on the current Wii console via a software update? Can the current Wii not handle this amount of processing? And second, REALLY REALLY bad timing Nintendo… are you trying to convince anyone that might be wavering on whether or not to pick up a Wii to wait until 2007? The current news really doesn’t make any sense at all - we can only hope that Nintendo will clarify all this and hopefully tell us that our circa 2006 Wiis will eventually be DVD-compatible.
The full announcement can be found after the jump.
Click to continue reading Wii With DVD Playback Coming in 2007?
Read More | Sonic Solutions Press Center
Gallery: Wii With DVD Playback Coming in 2007?
Wii Makes Forbes “Gadgets We Love” List
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, Reviews, Wii,
With Nintendo’s Wii launching this coming Sunday, Nintendo’s new console has been getting more love from outside the mainstream gaming press. This week, Forbes reviewed the Wii and placed the console on their “Gadget’s We Love” list, alongside Guitar Hero, the Nokia N95, and Slim Device’s Squeezebox among others. Forbes also dropped a review of the new console, echoing many are saying: the console is fun for both hard-core and neophyte gamers, but Forbes still isn’t 100% convinced that the strategy will be enough to displace either Microsoft or Sony in the console wars.
Read More 
| Forbes Wii Review
Read More | Forbes "Gadgets We Love"
Gallery: Wii Makes Forbes “Gadgets We Love” List
The Seattle Times has a lengthy profile of Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime and the turnaround that he is engineering at the company. Part of the profile is focused on the swagger that Fils-Aime seems to be bringing back to the company and its fanboys. Which Nintendo’s presence and influence in the videogame industry had been on the wane, their approach with their new products like the DS and the Wii appears to be turning this around.
Fils-Aime has helped Nintendo become more aggressive in the market, and part of this has been due to Reggie’s attitude and discipline, as detailed in the article. While a good part of the profile is aimed at Nintendo’s attempts to recapture and grow the video game market with the DS and the Wii, there are a number of insights into Fils-Aime’s background that led him to succeed at Nintendo of America. The next year should be an interesting one as Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony battle in the next generation of gaming.
Read More | The Seattle Times
Gallery: Reggie Fils-Aime Profiled
Reggie Talks Disruption In Montreal
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Wii,
Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime recently talked about the company’s strategies for the Wii and the DS at the Montreal Games Summit. According to Gamasutra, the focus of the talk was Nintendo’s “distruptive” strategy to bring new gamers to the table with their various software offerings on the DS and the Wii. Fils-Aime discussed Nintendo’s successes with the DS, relying on NPD data and demographic information from the Nintendo.com website to bolster his arguments. Sales numbers indicate that without the Nintendo DS, year-over-year sales are down 8%, but including the DS numbers in the mix boosts those figures to an 8% growth. Nintendo is starting to see successes with their marketing strategy to reach the non-traditional gamer. This is extending towards the marketing plan for the Wii; Fils-Aime believes that once Nintendo gets the Wii-mote into a consumer’s hands, “we’ve got a sale.”
Read More | Gamasutra
Gallery: Reggie Talks Disruption In Montreal
Elebits Slips from Wii Launch Window
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Nintendo, Puzzle, Release Dates, Wii,
We’ve heard an awful lot about titles slipping out of the PS3 launch window, but now it’s looking like the Wii isn’t immune to the same fate. With two weeks before launch, one of the exclusive third-party titles, Konami’s quirky Elebits, has been delayed. Current estimates state that the title will still launch before Christmas, but just barely - IGN is reporting that it may launch now sometime between December 12th and 18th.
Hopefully we won’t be hearing too many more reports of delays from the Nintendo camp. Losing another major title like Red Steel or Zelda could have disastrous consequences.
Read More | IGN Wii
Gallery: Elebits Slips from Wii Launch Window
GameStop/EBGames have revealed the contents of their mega-Wii bundle that will be available for pre-order starting tomorrow evening. The bundle will include the following:
- Wii Console
- Wii Memory SD 1 GB
- Additional Remote
- Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- Trauma Center: Second Opinion
- Red Steel
- Marvel Ultimate Alliance
- Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz
- Madden NFL 2007
- 12 Month Product Replacement Plan
- Game Informer Gift Subscription
All of the above will sell for $694.88, making the fantastic EB/GameStop PRP and the subscription to their in-house magazine’s price about $45. While the game selection is decent, the addition of the forced PRP and magazine subscription seems over the top. Add to that the fact that third-party 1 GB SD memory cards sell for about $25 starts pushing this bundle into the price-gouging territory. Hopefully, the amount of consoles that Nintendo ships this holiday will make bundles like this less popular, but consumers may decide that spending a little extra will be worth it for some peace of mind as the Wii launch date nears.
Read More | GameStop
Gallery: GameStop Reveals Wii Bundle Contents
Nintendo Wii Wins Popular Science Award
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Nintendo, Wii,
Popular Science picked Nintendo’s Wii console as one of the best innovations in 2006, giving it the Grand Award in the home entertainment category. Popular Science gave the console the award for its innovative motion sensitive controller and its simplification of gameplay, making a “console that gets you in the game.” Nintendo picks up yet another award from a source outside the mainstream video gaming press, perhaps illustrating its broad appeal.
Read More | Popular Science
Gallery: Nintendo Wii Wins Popular Science Award
EBGames & GameStop Prepare Price Gouging Wii Bundle
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, Wii,
EBGames just sent an e-mail out to their mailing list subscribers describing their online pre-order program. On Thursday evening CST, the company will place a limited number of Wii bundles online. Each bundle will sell for $699, and will be limited to 1 per household. EBGames’ official statement is this:
This Thursday evening (CST), November 9, your opportunity to get in on the excitement arrives when our Wii bundle becomes available for pre-order online at EBgames.com. You’ll get the best games, accessories and more in one convenient package delivered right to your door - all for under $699 plus tax and handling!
Quantities are extremely limited and there will be a limit of 1 Wii bundle per household, limited to US delivery only. Ordering a bundle does not guarantee shipment at launch and orders will be shipped on a first-come, first-serve basis. The bundle will be removed from the site as soon as we have reached our expected quota.
$699 for an online bundle that doesn’t guarantee a console at launch seems to be folly, particularly when so many other retailers seem to be getting a plentiful supply of the console at launch.
Gallery: EBGames & GameStop Prepare Price Gouging Wii Bundle
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