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New Survey Shows PS3 First, Xbox 360 Last
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360,
A new survey from recently the recently formed research company Interpret shows the Xbox 360 trailing in mindshare in the next generation console wars. Interpret’s survey targeted 2,000 online users; these users were then apparently weighted against 2004 Census data. In the data released to Next Generation, the weighted data shows 8.9 million consumers ready to pony up money for the PS3, 5.7 million would purchase the Wii, and 800,000 would buy the Xbox 360 at full price. It’s hard to attach much weight to the survey, though, without further information.
While Interpret LLC is a new company, its founders consist of veterans from ratings giant Nielsen; there is a lot of experience at the helm. But without more particulars, it is hard to judge if Interpret’s extrapolations are valid. There are some interesting points from the research; Interpret believes that while Microsoft has had tremendous success over the past year, the company has not been able to expand its audience beyond the hardcore gamer. It is also easy for gamers online to get an insulated view of the industry. Certainly, Sony has had a lot of bad news related to the Playstation 3, but a lot of this information will not trickle down to the mainstream audience. While this survey paints a bad picture for Microsoft, there is a huge gap between surveys, statistics, and the real world.
Read More 
| Next Generation
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Xfire Announces PS3 Middleware Solution, Wii Possible
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Nintendo, PC, PlayStation 3, Wii,
When 1up apparently found clues pointing to Sony using Xfire as a matching service for their Playstation 3 Network, Sony representatives were quick to downplay this as a part of the Xfire integration for Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom and not as a part of Sony’s official network.
Xfire today clarified their support on Untold Legends with GameSpot, indicating that on the PC and PS3, Xfire will be providing “cross-platform text chat and friends-list features” with support for new features in the future. In addition, Xfire will be licensing their middleware to other companies that want to bring advanced matchmaking features to the Playstation 3. Xfire also let slip that they were in talks with “one other console maker,” so unless Xfire is very confused, this would likely be Nintendo.
With the announcement that Untold Legends will support Xfire, and Full Auto 2 will utilize GameSpy’s services, it is starting to look more and more that Sony’s online network may be more bare-bones, with its own sign-in, but leaving more advanced networking features to established companies for the time being. This doesn’t preclude Sony from implementing these features in the future, but it does seem to indicate that Sony doesn’t quite have everything laid out right now and are instead leveraging partnerships to get the functionality that they want.
Read More | Gamespot
Wii Pre-Orders Start Friday, October 13, at GameStop/EB
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Nintendo, Wii,
GoNintendo has official confirmation that Nintendo Wii pre-orders will start Friday, October 13. The site has a scan of the the confirmation e-mail sent from GameStop’s corporate headquarters; while Wii console allocations aren’t given, GameStop responds to some issues reported by customers during the PS3 pre-order event (as quick as that was). First, GameStop stores are not to have reservation lists or other methods of holding pre-orders before the program starts. All pre-orders are to be allocated in a first-come, first-serve basis for customers in store. According to the e-mail, customers “must be physically present at the store at opening time… to make their reservation deposit.”
GameStop also stresses that stores are not to force bundles on customers, or otherwise give preference to gamers that had previously pre-ordered Wii games or accessories. This contradicts what some customers were told earlier by GameStop employees, and may cause some conflicts. GameStop also stressed that stores were not to have special opening times for the pre-order start; no midnight or early openings would be allowed.
While the Xbox 360 pre-order system was basically a nightmare, and the PS3 pre-orders didn’t last long enough for issues become a problem, Nintendo’s larger allocation of consoles will help alleviate some of the pre-order issues. At the very least, it looks like GameSpot is trying to eliminate some of the problems they have had in the past.
Read More | GoNintendo
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Nintendo Of Japan Prices Wii Accessories
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Accessories, Hardware, Nintendo, Wii,
Nintendo of Japan recently added a list of accessories and prices for the Wii in Japan; this should give US gamers a general idea of what to expect for pricing here. The accessories listed include:
- Replacement Power Adapter: 3,000 Yen ($25)
- Composite Video Cable: 1,000 Yen ($8.40)
- S-Video Cable: 2,500 Yen ($21)
- D-Terminal Cable (Japan-specific video cable): 2,500 Yen ($21)
- Component Video Cable: 2,500 Yen ($21)
- 512 MB SD Memory Card: 3,800 Yen ($32)
- USB LAN Adapter: 2,800 Yen ($23)
If Nintendo prices their accessories in the US at something close to the dollar conversion rate, the cost would seem pretty reasonable. The component video cable is at least less expensive than the Gamecube cable was, assuming that one had a component capable version of the console. The USB LAN adapter is reasonably priced as well, hopefully Nintendo of America will keep this priced at under $25.
Read More | Nintendo of Japan
Wii’s Secret Features Keep on Coming
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Music, Nintendo, Rumors, Wii,
So, you thought you’d heard everything about what the Wii can do? Well, we’ve found some new interesting tidbits, and we’re willing to bet (based on what we’ve found out so far) that there’s still more up Nintendo’s seemingly bottomless sleeves.
The most recent revelation is that the Wii will support mp3 playback (that’s MPEG-3 Audio format, not Metroid Prime 3, of course). While details are of course sketchy, it seems that the playback will at least be enabled during slideshows played through the Photo Channel. Straight from the most recent “Iwata Asks” write-up:
“Another thing which people have really enjoyed is the Slide show function. This allows you to play music as the console automatically displays your pictures in turn. If you put MP3 files in your SD Card, you can have your favourite songs as background music to your Slide show.”
Does this mean that you’ll be able to include your own music during games (much like the Xbox 360’s current capabilities?). It certainly sounds like it. And especially given the fact that the Wii has an upgradeable, possibly Linux-based operating system, there’s definitely the possibility that Nintendo could even implement this feature at a later date.
As usual, we’ll keep you updated with all the latest rumors. But goodness - it’s 5 weeks until launch - shouldn’t we be running out of rumors already??!?
Read More | Iwata Asks @ Nintendo.com
Wii.com Updated With “Wii Experience”
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Nintendo, Wii,
Nintendo has updated their Wii sites worldwide with a set of eight new videos, titled “Wii Experience.” Nintendo is clearly playing off the double meaning of the title, and the eight videos show people in different countries and of different ages experiencing the Wii. The videos do a really good job of illustrating the wide appeal of the console; the camera hardly ever focuses on the gameplay, but it is clear that all of the people are playing various games from Nintendo’s Wii Sports. One thing that stands out from the videos is the joy that these people are experiencing when they play the games. Some of the players start out with tentative motions, but as they play further, their movements start to become more exaggerated. The site has some empty spots for future videos, so one can expect Nintendo to add more content as the Wii launch date gets closer.
Read More | Wii.com
Nintendo of Japan has started airing the first Wii commercial, and it is a little abstract to say the least. Nintendo is probably intending this to act as a teaser for the upcoming release of the Wii. A loose translation of the commercial would be:
What is this?
This is a new remote.
The Nintendo Wii Remote.
One would expect the US advertising to be different than those in Japan, but since this is clearly just the beginning of a larger advertising campaign, it is hard to tell where Nintendo of Japan is going to go with these ads.
Nintendo Minimizes Wii Sunlight Issues
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Nintendo, Wii,
When a gamer reported that the Wii demonstration units at the Nintendo World store were being adversely affected by sunlight, 1up talked to Nintendo to try and clarify the situation. Nintendo’s response didn’t completely address the issue, but they did state that their own testing showed “no great risk of light interference when playing a game that relies on the pointer and sensor bar.” Now, this isn’t a specific denial of the situation at Nintendo World, so gamers may be left hoping that Nintendo’s internal test cases will encompass enough of the home lighting situations that this isn’t a huge issue.
Read More | 1up
Early on when Nintendo was announcing the Wii console, they mentioned that the sensor bar might be sensitive to certain kinds of lighting, like halogen lamps. Now, according to a post in Nintendo’s forums, that lighting might also include sunlight. The post gave feedback on the user’s experience with the Wii at the Nintendo World store, and described the sunlight issue:
For about an hour or so, the sun shone right into the store, the two MP3:C kiosks had to have curtains above them, and the Wii Sports Tennis and Shooting Game kiosks were unplayable since they were “shrouded” in sunlight. Later the sun went behind a building, and everything was in working order again. So when you get your Wii, don’t play it in the sunlight.
The sunlight problems are interesting, partly because in one of the Iwata Asks interviews on Nintendo’s official site, issues with fluorescent lights and sunlight were issues that were specifically mentioned:
In the early stages of development we ran into a number of problems that we hadn’t anticipated, like the fact that the controller would react to fluorescent light, for example. Creating a mechanism that prevents the controller from responding to fluorescent light and sunlight may sound like low-profile activities, but it still gave us a lot to work on.
Clearly, Nintendo has considered various lighting schemes and issues with sensor bar placement in the design of the console, but it is somewhat unclear what steps Nintendo took to ameliorate these problems. A possibility is that the hardware at Nintendo World was an earlier version that wasn’t tuned for sunlight. It’s also hard to extrapolate how the sensor bar will react in a person’s home from the experiences at the Nintendo World store. Still, this may be a concern for consumers, particularly given the wide variety of lighting environments that are found in the home. Other than the sensor bar, issue, the feedback from the actual gameplay was favorable overall.
Read More | Nintendo Forums
CVG Gets Hands On With the Wii Controller
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Nintendo, Wii,
The guys at Computer and Video Games have put together an in-depth preview of the Wii controller, and so far all indications seem to be positive for the new technology. CVG wasn’t able to get their hands on a truly final controller; their version was will wired to the console, but CVG had Nintendo’s assurances that the new controllers would be close to their retail counterparts.
CVG found the controllers to be well designed, and comfortable to hold, much like most of other feedback from people lucky enough to play with the controller. They claim the controller is more weighty and solid than the E3 demo units.
In terms of response time and accuracy, CVG found that controller motion was detected nearly instantaneously; lag reported in games from others may be related to earlier versions of the controller, early versions of the games, or the environment. Accuracy of the pointer was compared to a mouse, and not as much as a light gun. Sensitivity of the controller seemed to vary with the user’s distance from the screen. CVG also gives feedback on the speaker functionality and the nunchuck controller as well. Overall, the CVG’s experience what seems to be the majority opinion on the internet; the controller works well and the games are fun.
Read More | Computer And Videogames
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