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BusinessWeek looks at Nintendo’s odds in the next generation console battle, and suggests that the Wii console might be able to take marketshare from Sony’s Playstation 3. Keying off the success that Nintendo has had with the DS, BusinessWeek posits that the same advantages that the DS has over the PSP could lead to success in the living room.
The DS has been a phenomenon in Japan, dominating the PSP, and has started to take a lead in the US. The DS has taken off, according to the article, because of a few factors. First, content seems to be driving the portable. Titles like New Super Mario Bros. and Brain Age have been selling very well in all territories. Because of the types of content available, the DS has been finding new audiences.
The article also suggests that the DS is attracting more attention than the PSP because it is so different from traditional consoles. Dual screens and the touch-screen seem to be attracting the attention of more developers. The DS also presents a much more attractive price point.
BusinessWeek suggests that these same factors could drive the Wii to success against the Playstation 3. Nearly every advantage that the DS has also is present in the Wii. Pricing is definitely to Nintendo’s advantage, and the Wii has a unique control scheme, plus the Wii seems to be more appealing to developers, at least in Japan. The article hedges a little, emphasizing the differences between the markets. Hardcore gamers will not likely be swayed from the Playstation 3, but the truly hardcore will probably invest in more than one console. In addition, while PSP games have largely been either scaled down or ported versions of console games, the Playstation 3 is the main console. While a portable version of Playstation games may not be hugely compelling, most gamers are going to want a home console. Of all the analysis out there, no one really expects the Wii to outsell the Playstation 3, but Nintendo does appear poised to increase its marketshare. The Wii has enough buzz that it should at least sell better than the Gamecube, though sales at that level would be aiming rather low.
Read More 
| BusinessWeek
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Today’s Nintendo Wii Launch Rumor: October 2nd
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Rumors, Wii,
You know a company has succeeded in creating buzz for their product when people are going crazy just trying to figure out the launch date. Such is the case with Nintendo’s Wii, and the latest piece of launch-related speculation comes to us from the folks at GamingTarget. Nintendo, in a somewhat humorous press release of upcoming DS games, taunted “perhaps the secret to the launch information for Wii is somehow encoded in the text of this news item”
GamingTarget analyzes this as follows:
The fourth quarter begins on October 1. Now look at the list. At least one game is released every Monday in the fourth quarter except for the following dates: October 2, November 20 and November 27. November 27 is after Black Friday, so it’s out. November 20 is after the launch of the PS3, so that’s out too. That leaves us with October 2.
Read our full (and fully snarky) analysis after the jump ...
Click to continue reading Today’s Nintendo Wii Launch Rumor: October 2nd
Read More | GamingTarget
LucasArts to Support “Every” Next-Gen Console (including Wii)
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Corporate News, Nintendo, Simulation, Wii,
After using the Wiimote for sword-swinging in the Twilight Princess at E3, a lot of folks in the media began to think about how perfect Nintendo’s next-gen console would be for a lightsaber-based Star Wars game. At the time, however, LucasArts did not have any titles in development for the Wii and simply stated that they were interested in the possibility of developing for Wii.
Well, at Comic-Con 2006, LucasArts support for Wii started to sound a lot more concrete. According to sources at IGN.com:
During the Q&A session, a younger gamer took the microphone and asked if the company would be showing support for the newest motion-controlled Nintendo console. Sansweet’s responded simply by stating the likeness between the Wii controller and a lightsaber, followed by a statement that LucasArts would be supporting every next generation system.
It's too bad that Nintendo fans won't have a
Rogue Squadron come Wii launch-time, but the addition of eventual LucasArts support for their platform is more good news for the console.
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Ubisoft Announces New TMNT Game at Comic-Con 2006
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, PlayStation 3, Trailers, Wii, Xbox 360,
Following the look and feel of the upcoming CG-based Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, Ubisoft will be developing a partner game, given the creative tentative name of TMNT. Specific consoles haven’t been named yet for the release, but Ubisoft states that it will be for “next gen” systems.
The game will feature acrobatic navigation through cityscapes, a flexible combat engine, and cooperative moves that allow the turtles to each use their special powers. The game looks a lot like a faster-moving version of the recent 3D Prince of Persia games (also made by Ubisoft), which is probably due to the fact that the game is in early development and may be based on the PoP engine. Still, if TMNT just plays like an updated, next-gen Prince of Persia, then we may be looking at one of the better games in the TMNT lineage.
A teaser movie for the game is available via the link below and features some clips of preliminary gameplay footage.
Read More | IGN.com
Marvel Ultimate Alliance Trailer
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Adventure, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Role Playing Games, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360,
Fresh from the San Diego Comic-Con, TeamXbox has a couple of high resolution trailers from the upcoming action RPG, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. The first trailer shows off more of the expanded character set in the new game. The character models look to be a mix of the more updated Marvel Ultimate look and the classic comic book conventions. Some characters are shown merely as introduction, but gamers also get a look at some of the superheroes in action as well.
In addition to the generic trailer, an introduction movie for the Human Torch is provided. The flame effects seem fairly strong, but the character modeling is somewhat uneven. Ultimate Alliance seeks to vastly expand the game world from the previous X-Men Legends games, and offer much stronger online co-operative game play. The developers have slowly been revealing the characters included in the game, so Marvel aficionados should be able to find one of their favorite heroes to play. The game should ship some time before the holidays, and has been announced for a number of platforms, from the Game Boy Advance to the Playstation 3.
Read More | TeamXbox
Nintendo Fusion Tour Dates Found Hidden on Website?
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Rumors, Wii,
Nintendo may want to have a little “talking-to” with their web designer. First, GoNintendo.com found some hidden webpages under wii.nintendo.com placeholding for Fire Emblem Wii and Wii Music.
And now, Playfeed.com has found a hidden page under nintendofusiontour.com that may give the venues and dates for the tour, where the gaming public will be able to preview the Wii and listen to
“up and coming” bands. Going to this page shows a listing of tour dates and venues, starting on September 27th, but ending on November 23rd. This doesn’t exactly match up with the announced dates of September 27th - November 11th, but there are two possibilities:
1) Nintendo is already planning on “extending” the tour due to “overwhelming demand!” or
2) These are just the tour dates from last year. Did anyone actually go to the Fusion Tour 2005 and remember the dates / venues?
Still, if possibility 2) is the right answer, you’d at least think Nintendo would have the foresight to take this old page down. If this DOES end up being the full list, then I expect this page will be disappearing soon, so we’ve cleverly posted the list right here, after the jump.
Click to continue reading Nintendo Fusion Tour Dates Found Hidden on Website?
Read More | Nintendo Fusion Tour
New details about the Wii controller have surfaced, thanks to IGN getting access to some official developer documentation. It has been previously known that the remote would utilize Bluetooth to communicate with the console and would be powered by two AA batteries. The remote will have an approximate battery life of 30 hours when used as a pointer. Accelerometer-only use will result in 60 hours of gameplay. Other new details include 6 KB of NVRAM, whose use is not documented in the official developer information. IGN theorizes that this may work with the integrated speaker, or could store custom settings. The 6 KB could also store Bluetooth pairing information for the remote.
The documentation also specifies the use of the buttons on the controller; IGN reports that all the buttons on the remote and the nunchuk attachment are digital. While gamers have known that halogen lamps could potentially interfere with the Wii controller, Nintendo also suggests that fluorescent lamps and mirrors could cause problems. Calibration should help reduce such interference greatly.
IGN also reports that the Wii acts somewhat as an eye, measuring coordinates on the X and Y axis. They speculate that this could mean that the controller could act as a camera. However, with the Wii-mote generally pointing away from the player, this doesn’t make a lot of sense. These co-ordinates will more likely act as a way for the developer to read where the remote is pointing on-screen. Further details can be found at IGN.
What Does British “Anti-Standby” Law Mean for WiiConnect 24?
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Culture, Nintendo, Rumors, Wii,
Clubskill has pointed out an interesting kink in Nintendo’s next-gen plans. Recently, the British government passed a bill outlawing “standby” mode for appliances, after a government report found that roughly 8% of Britain’s energy use was accounted for by devices sitting around doing nothing. The problem for Nintendo is that the bill would appear to be directly at odds with the WiiConnect-24 service, which is supposed to be able to download new content to the Wii (among other things) while you’re not playing.
Obviously, UK gamers are currently going to be the only ones having to deal with this restriction for the time being (and we’re not even sure how it will play out yet… perhaps Nintendo can strike some sort of deal?). Still, with energy usage becoming an ever-greater concern, maybe this is a harbinger of things to come?
Read More | ClubSkill.com
Nintendo Fusion Tour Sept 27 - Nov 11, Cities TBA
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Corporate News, Hardware, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Rumors, Wii,
The Nintendo Fusion Tour—a “concert” that’s really a Nintendo marketing event with “up and coming” bands—will be back this year, according to the Billboard music website. The tour will be headlined by the “Hawthorne Heights” act and will give folks who couldn’t make it to E3 a chance to play with Nintendo’s new Wii console.
It looks as if Billboard may have broken the news early by accident. Going to www.nintendofusiontour takes you to a post on Nintendo.com that has the tour logo and a short notice saying only “More Information Coming Soon”. Hopefully, this page will be updated shortly so that we can get an idea of what cities will be previewing the Wii.
Read More | Billboard.com
Half-Life 2 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 Announced
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, First Person Shooters, MMORPG, PC, PlayStation 3, Sports, Strategy, Wii, Xbox 360,
EA recently hosted the Summer Showcase to highlight some of their upcoming products, and Gamespot blogged a live report from the presentation.
Mythic was there, and showed off the E3 Warhammer Online trailer, but there was no information on their work on Ultima Online.
Valve’s Gabe Newell was also there. He first talked about the latest upgrades to the Source engine for Episode 2. Then, he showed off the prototype for a new game with a working title of Portal. Team Fortress 2 was shown and features a new look and feel; the game has been remade to have more of a 60’s era spy movie sensibility. Half-Life: Episode 2 will apparently hit the PC, Xbox 360, and the Playstation 3 on the same day. Console gamers will also get all previous Half-Life 2 content, so it looks like the Xbox 360 Half-Life 2 rumors were true.
Other game titles discussed include the recently announced Lord of the Rings: The White Council, and the six Wii games that EA announced earlier. Need for Speed: Carbon was shown for both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 and apparently looked very similar. There was other mystery content announced that could not be talked about, so hopefully more information about those titles will leak out in the near future.
Read More | Gamespot
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