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Masahiro Sakurai, the Director of the upcoming Super Smash Brothers Brawl, has just revealed new tidbits of information regarding the game on his blog. According to the entry, game play will be less complex this time around, in an effort to make the game easier for new players to enjoy. In addition, a greater focus on aerial battles and “moderated” speed will be among the other changes to the game’s fighting system. Online play will feature only basic functionality, eschewing popular features in other games, such as player rankings.
The character roster for the game remains unfinished, but there does seem to be a chance that non-Nintendo characters may still appear. The only apparent requirements for consideration, are that the character(s) must have appeared already in a game on a Nintendo platform earlier. Sakurai goes on to mention that the roster has only room for one or two more characters.
Read More 
| Smash Boards
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Motion Controller In Development For Over 2 Years - According To Sony
Posted by John Goulden Categories: E3, Editorial, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Rumors, Wii,
When Sony unveiled their motion controller at E3 the response of the audience was underwhelming to say the least. From all appearances, it seemed as though Sony was trying to capitalize on Nintendo’s Wii controller, and lessen the impact Nintendo’s new console was going to have on the PS3. A form of “me too” permeated their keynote and questions began to fly.
After a few weeks of the rumors floating around, Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide president Phil Harrison was quoted as saying, “In a way I understand why people say [we stole Nintendo’s idea], but it is a little stupid, if you forgive the remark.” Phil elaborated by describing how Sony brought 3D graphics to the console market with the advent of the original PlayStation, yet did not cry “foul” when Nintendo released their 3D capable console, the N64. To help further squash the rumors, David Reeves, SCE Worldwide president and CEO, had the following to say: “We’ve had a positive reaction to the controller and obviously some people have asked if it’s a last minute thing. It’s not - it’s been planned for around two and a half years.”
It’s entirely feasible that Sony has worked on and developed the controller in absolute secrecy for over two years. However, it is difficult to imagine that there wasn’t a leak somewhere along the way giving even a hint of the controller’s motion capabilities. Even harder to believe is that Sony would remain totally silent on their “in development” motion controller, especially once Nintendo started to provide hints about the Wii’s controller.
To further cloud the issue, we spoke with a developer from Electronic Arts when we were at E3. It was the day of Sony’s announcement, and the question we asked was in regards to Madden 2007. We were curious to know how EA planned on implementing the PS3’s motion controller, as we had just seen Nintendo’s adaptation of Madden 2007 on the Wii. The developer looked at us for a moment, and then, in a wry tone of voice, said that they had only learned of the motion controller that very morning during Sony’s keynote, the same as everyone else. Secrecy is all well and good, but you would think the game developers would need a bit of beforehand knowledge so they could perform proper game development.
In the end, did Sony have their motion controller in development for over two years, long before Nintendo provided information as to the Wii’s abilities? It’s hard to say at this point, and we may never know, but it’s not inconceivable to think that Sony was scrambling for something that would help them “save face”.
Read More | GameDaily BIZ
Through some careful mining of the Internet, the British Gaming Blog managed to dig up some prototype Wii controller styles that might have been. Thankfully gamers never got the odd button-cross prototype, or the version with the disc controller. But there is a version with an analog stick, and one that looks somewhat like an old-school NES controller. The final image on the page may be a prototype for some kind of replacement shell for the Wii controller, so there may be some modification options open to gamers as well.
Read More | British Gaming Blog
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NY Times Loves “Minimalist” Wii, Interviews Iwata & Miyamoto
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: E3, Nintendo, Wii,
The New York Times is arriving a little late to the scene with their own article on the Nintendo Wii. Don’t expect to find detailed technical specifications or descriptions of how the controller works in this article; a lot of the content in this article has been said before. Still, this marks one of the highest-profile articles dedicated to the Wii, and you will find some interesting philosophical discussions on Nintendo’s strategy for the upcoming generation of consoles.
As an added benefit, the article has a link to an NY Times interview with “The Forces Behind Wii”, Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto. Again, don’t expect a ton of new content, but there are some interesting tidbits. Iwata does note that the biggest concern between now and launch time for the Wii is simply producing enough units and getting word-of-mouth going through hands-on demonstrations.
Read More | NY Times
Rumors of the launch of the Nintendo Wii have been spreading ever since it was revealed as the Revolution back at E3 2005. Most recently, MCVUK has announced that the system by be set for a November 6th launch; just in time for the holiday shopping season, and also one week before the launch of the Sony Playstation 3. Despite all of the talk, the Wii launch date and price remains unknown, with Nintendo being largely silent on the issue, only guaranteeing
that the Wii would indeed be available by the next holiday season.
Read More | MCVUK
Nintendo Knocks Out E3 Competition
Posted by Thea Davis Categories: Corporate News, E3, Nintendo, Wii,
The entire buzz coming out of E3 has centered on the new Nintendo Wii console, and its magic stick…er, the vibrating remote and controller. While the other two big players, Microsoft and Sony, mainly introduced systems that are basically the same as their previous models—just faster and bigger—Nintendo KO’d the competition by introducing a truly innovate gaming experience. And the lower price point didn’t hurt either. To Microsoft’s credit, the Xbox 360 had already upped the ante. But sometimes it’s the one calling a bluff that takes our collective breath away.
Read More | Buffalo News
Iwata Talks Wii Controller, Next Generation
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Hardware, Wii,
Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata recently talked to reporters from Japanese magazine Tech On!, about the Wii, and its impact on the next generation of gaming, and Nintendo’s approach for the upcoming console battle. Interestingly, the fundamental technological research for the Wii controller started three years ago, and had a focused task force created 2 years ago. Nintendo continued to tweak the controller late into its development cycle, with the last minute addition of the speaker.
Also interesting is Iwata’s statement that the Wii is not a “next generation” console; that’s not to say that the Wii isn’t an improvement over the Gamecube, but Nintendo’s interpretation is that “next generation” implies an extension of what has come before, and they want to push the Wii as something totally different. Taking the offerings from Sony and Microsoft as an example, the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360 are generally considered the next version of the previous consoles, and Nintendo clearly would like to distance the Wii from the Gamecube, both in the eyes of gamers and non-gamers alike.
Iwata also briefly touches on what Nintendo’s goals are with the Internet for the Wii. With the introduction of WiiConnect24, the hope is that Wii consoles will be connected to the Internet 24 hours a day, and will be able to receive updates at any time, and allow users to share game content even when not playing. Gamers could look to Animal Crossing: Wild World for the DS for some hints to this. On the DS, when users connect to friends, they can also get content from Nintendo at the same time. A theoretical Wii version could do the same on a larger scale, allowing content downloads overnight, and allow friends to visit other towns even when the user isn’t playing the game at the same time, allowing for a broader range of interactions.
Read More | Tech On!
Rumor: Sora Joins Line-Up In Smash Brothers: Brawl?
Posted by Binh Tran Categories: Action, Fighting, Rumors, Wii,
On the heels of the surprise announcement of Solid Snake’s addition to the Smash Brothers: Brawl lineup, rumors have begun circulating on the internet regarding who may be added to the roster. Recently, Nintendo had begun receiving online surveys from fans of the series, with their suggestions for who they would want to join the lineup for the popular fighting game.
Sakurai, the director of Brawl and also the original Smash Brothers, recently issued a listing of some of the suggestions fans had made in the survey. Most notable of the names on the list included, Sora, of Kingdom Hearts fame; Mega Man, and also Little Mac from Nintendo’s Punch Out games. Whether or not this signifies if these characters are seriously being considered for the game is as yet, unknown.
Read More | SmashBoards
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Wii Wins Game Critics Best of Show E3 2006
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: E3, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360,
The Game Critics awards for E3 2006 have been announced, and the winner of Best of Show this year is Nintendo’s Wii console, beating out Assassin’s Creed,Bioshock, Gears of War, and Spore to take the overall title. The Wii also took best hardware, while Will Wright’s Spore was voted Best Original Game, Best Simulation Game, and Best PC Game. Epic’s new Xbox 360 shooter, Gears of War won Best Console Game. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass came away with the award for Best Handheld Game, the rest of Nintendo’s showing was represented by Excite Truck as Best Racing Game, and Wii Sports as Best Sports Game.
In terms of console platform wins, Nintendo’s Wii led the pack with 4 wins, followed by the Xbox 360 with 3, and the PS3 with 2. Nintendo’s showing was quite impressive, given that the Xbox 360 was heading into its second generation of game titles, and had a number of great games shown; the amount of wins is a testament to Nintendo’s preparation and readiness for this Holiday season. Microsoft may have suffered a little bit due to the sheer number of nominations seen for the Xbox 360 platform; Xbox 360 games received a total of 21 nominations, resulting in multiple Xbox 360 games up for the same awards. Overall, Sony’s strongest showing were the games Heavenly Sword and Assassin’s Creed, which took Best Fighting Game and Best Action/Adventure Game respectively.
The full list of nominees (winners bolded) after the jump.
Click to continue reading Wii Wins Game Critics Best of Show E3 2006
Guitar Hero Senior Designer’s Thoughts on Wii
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Accessories, Nintendo, Rumors, Wii,
The Wiire is sporting an interview with Guitar Hero Senior Designer Rob Kay about his thoughts on the Wii and the gaming industry in general. He seems to agree with a lot of the stances Nintendo has taken recently, including the idea that graphical improvements to games are yielding diminishing returns and costing the gaming industry more money in the long run. He seems fairly excited about the possibilities of developing titles for the Wii’s unique control scheme, including some great ideas about using the Wiimote for drumming or guitar games. He also notes that the choice to develop for PS2 was based purely on the fact that it had the biggest user base, meaning that if Nintendo sells enough consoles they could end up with some great games from Red Octane.
The idea of a guitar-shaped controller shell is enough to get me excited at least! Combine that concept with the fact that the Wii trailer shows people using the controllers as drumsticks and the already-well-publicized theory that the wiimote may contain a microphone, and you’ve got your own little (or should I say, “wee”) rock band.
Read More | The Wiire
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