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Some DS Lite Owners Notice Hinge Crack Problems
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Hardware, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Rumors,
Some owners of the DS lite (who couldn’t have owned it for much more than a month), are already starting to notice some small cracking in the plastic outer shell, specifically on the hinge near the L shoulder button. Maxconsole.net has had 4 users send in pictures of this problem, which while not necessarily widespread is definitely not an isolated incident either. This problem is being seen by adult users who “treated their DS lite like a baby”, so chances are there might be some small defect in the manufacturing process.
Of course, this problem does not in any way affect the operation of the DS and is only a minor cosmetic issue. Still, users over at MaxConsole have decided to make a trip to the Nintendo World store in New York City, to see how the demo units there are holding up. Now that you’re aware of the issue, do you have DS lite with similar cracking?
Read More 
| MaxConsole.net
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Nintendo Begins Marketing Push to Turn Seniors Into Gamers
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Corporate News, Nintendo, Nintendo DS,
Nintendo seems to be taking their mission of reaching untapped gaming markets really seriously - this time it’s in a way that I don’t think many of us would have expected. On July 15th in the “Solera at Stallion Mountain Recreation Center” in Las Vegas (read: gated community for the 55-and-older crowd), Nintendo will show off its DS Lite and the Brain Age game to seniors who have probably never touched a Nintendo product in their life.
I’ve often thought that Brain Age is one of the few Nintendo titles that might actually appeal to older gamers. Even with their new Touch Generations line, games like Tetris DS or even Big Brain Academy seem to still have fairly gamer-oriented presentation and often rely on twitchy reflexes. Personally, the only other title that I could picture senior folks playing and enjoying is Sudoku Gridmaster, but maybe I’m wrong! Still, if Nintendo sees a warm reception during this event, I expect we might see some more “relaxed” titles in the future.
Read More | Gamasutra
Final Fantasy 3 on DS Looking Good
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Role Playing Games, Screenshots,
It may seem like forever and a day until the US can get its hands on the English version of FF III for the Nintendo DS, but I think we can safely say that it’ll be worth the wait. The above footage shows off what looks to be near the beginning of the (Japanese version) game, and it looks great - the characters are quite detailed, the animations seem very smooth, and some of the enemies like the turtle-y one at the end of this demo look really gorgeous on the small screen. It appears to be quite reminiscent in many ways to the look and feel of FF VII for the Playstation, and that can only be a good thing.
It’ll be only about 60 days until the US release, at which point the DS will finally have (hopefully!) its killer RPG. Now, if Nintendo would just throw us a bone about what you can do over Nintendo WiFi Connection…
Read More | YouTube via Kotaku.com
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DS Lite Put Through Stress Tests: DS Lite 1, Testers 0
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Hardware, Nintendo, Nintendo DS,
Ever wonder why the demo units at stores look like they’ve been through World War III? It could have something to do with “testers” like these. This video was recently posted on YouTube, showing some folks doing terrible things to a DS lite trial station they found at their local Wal-Mart. In the video, you’ll see them trying as best they can to break the touch-screen on the DS lite. After a lot of pushing and heavy grunting, the screen still looks perfect - a great advertisement for the quality of Nintendo products, I guess!
Please, don’t try this at home, or even at your local chain retailer… we’re glad to know that the DS lite survived this stress-test, but we’d rather people don’t abuse store displays like this.
Read More | YouTube via MaxConsole.net
We Wonder: Will Wavebirds Work With Wii Without Wavebird Weceivers?
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Accessories, Nintendo, Nintendo Gamecube, Rumors, Wii, Wireless,
(With apologies for the gratuitous use of alliteration in the title) The good folks over at WiiFanboy have posted an interesting question based on some recent quotes from the August issue of Nintendo Power. A survey in that issue supposedly asks as part of a Player’s Poll Sweepstakes:
Which of the following Wii control features or functions is of the greatest interest to you?
And then goes on to list the following as an option:
6. Compatibility with WaveBird for playing Gamecube titles.
It’s not clear exactly what that means - this could just mean that yes, the Gamecube controller ports on top of the Wii will be placed such that the Wavebird receiver still fits. However, it leads some folks to an interesting bit of speculation that perhaps the Wii could support the Wavebird controller without a receiver plugged in. Such functionality would definitely be a neat touch and would give the console a much cleaner look for Wavebird owners. Given that the Wavebird controllers use RF communication unlike the Wiimote, which uses Bluetooth, this would require a little extra engineering and probably some more FCC approval. Still I for one hope that Nintendo realized what a good idea this could be.
Read More | NintendoWiiFanboy.com
EA Support for Wii Grows to Six Titles
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Adventure, Corporate News, Nintendo, Sports, Third Person Shooters, Wii,
Nintendo may still be the console underdog in the next-gen race, but Electronic Arts has dropped some more good news for those folks rooting for the Wii. In a recent statement, EA announced that they will be developing 4 newly-announced titles, bringing their commitment up to 6 titles once you include the already-announced Madden and Need for Speed: Carbon. The new games are from the Harry Potter, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, SSX, and Godfather franchises. Straight from the release:
“Once we started to experiment with Madden on Wii, there was an explosion of innovation. Everyone in the studio is energized by the creative opportunity afforded by both the hardware and controller. By reaching into our catalogue, we are able to bring a fresh and distinctive experience to some of EA’s most popular franchises. Creatively, the game play possibilities are staggering and endless,” said John Schappert, Senior Vice President and General Manager, EA.
So for those worried about graphically toned-down ports of PS3 titles that use the “classic” controller, it sounds like your fears have been allayed. EA most likely will find innovative ways to use the Wiimote and nunchuk attachment to bring these games to life.
Though I’m usually none too excited about sports titles, the addition of Tiger Woods is huge - ever since the Wiimote was announced folks have been talking about how it could be used creatively for sports games like golf and tennis, and it’s great to see the first real golf game (read: not Wii Sports: Golf) that will take advantage of the control system.
Read More | EA Press Release via Gamespot.com
DS Lite Moves 200,000 Units In Europe
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Portable/Mobile,
While Nintendo’s first day sales figures for the DS Lite in Europe didn’t particularly amaze the gaming public, the handheld is selling in respectable numbers. Nintendo of Europe recently announced that in the ten days since launch, they have sold over 200,000 DS Lites in the UK. This has brought their total sales of DS and DS Lites in Europe to over five million consoles, and has pushed many of their software titles to similar success. For whatever reason, Nintendo has not done as well with the DS in Europe as in the US and Japanese territories, but it looks like they are making progress.
Read More | Nintendo of Europe
The new control scheme for Madden 07 on Nintendo’s Wii is now available. The control system is called “Freemotion”, and relies heavily on the motion sensing abilities of the Wiimote. The new control scheme is impressive and appears very intuitive. “Freemotion” may be the first control scheme since the original NES that allows me to challenge my Dad to a match of videogame football. Video Game Generation has more screenshots and details on Madden 07 for the Nintendo Wii.
Read More | Video Game Generation
Tech E Blog has put together a fun list of the Top 10 strangest NES mods. If you have any old NES hardware sitting around you can easily come away from this list with a good weekend project. My personal favorite is the NES alarm clock, which won an honorable mention.
Read More | Tech E Blog
Dennis Dyack Says There’s More Eternal Darkness On The Way
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Adventure, Nintendo, Rumors, Survival Horror,
Over at his blog on IGN.com, Dennis Dyack (director at Silicon Knights) says that “absolutely yes”, they have sequels in mind for Eternal Darkness, arguing that too much time went into creating the universe for that game and that there are “numerous other stories to tell”.
What’s the plot going to be? Who can say. Will it show up on a Nintendo console, since the original Eternal Darkness was on the Gamecube? Again, who knows. SK’s exclusivity deal with Nintendo is ancient history. Will it take place before or after the original? Nope, no answers there either. All we can do for the time being is wait and hope that turning Eternal Darkness into a trilogy won’t result in a Matrix-like fate for the franchise. The original was great - please don’t ruin my memories, guys!
Read More | blogs @ IGN.com via 1up.com
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