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Nintendo DS Lite Unpacking Video
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Internet, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Portable/Mobile,
Gabe over at Penny Arcade received a DS Lite from Nintendo today and posted the unpacking video for all to see. This is by far the best unpacking video I have seen. I can only hope my DS Lite packaging does this on Sunday.
Read More 
| Penny Arcade
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New Raid Over The River Screenshots
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Portable/Mobile, Screenshots, Wii,
Nibris has released new screenshots for their Nintendo DS title called Raid over the River. The game is a top down shooter which has 3 different time periods including medieval, World War II, and the near future. Depending on the time period you are playing in the choices of fighters change. The fighter choices range from dragons to futuristic planes. The game is due out for the DS in 2006. Nibris is a small game studio based in Europe who are also working on Sadness, a horror game, for Nintendo’s Wii.
Read More | Nibris
Iwata Talks Release Date, Virtual Console, Pokemon Wii
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Fighting, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Retro, Role Playing Games, Wii,
In probably the biggest Nintendo update since E3, Nintendo’s President Satoru Iwata announced some major new details about the Wii and the games available for it. Quickly summarized, the main points of interest are:
- The Wii launch date will be revealed in September
- Unsurprisingly, Nintendo won’t lose much on Wii hardware sales. They hope to have 6 million units ready by April ‘07
- Game pricing for the Virtual Console is suggested to be around $5 and $10 a game (implying this won’t be subscription-based)
- The Wii will be able to recognize touch-screen input, meaning the DS can be used as a controller in some instances
- DS sales are expected to be around 2 million / month for the coming year, with production to meet this level of demand
- Pokemon for the Wii will be released and available in Winter ‘06
It’s good to see more concrete details filtering in. Also, announcing Pokemon during this conference instead of during E3 may have been a great strategic decision, as Nintendo appears to be trying to shed its “kiddy” image with titles like Project H.A.M.M.E.R. and Disaster: Day of Crisis that were announced at E3.
Read More | Famitsu (Japanese) via Spong.com (English summary)
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Katsuya Eguchi Talks Animal Crossing Wii, Hints at Guitar Hero Wii
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Adventure, Nintendo, Rumors, Wii,
Nintendo exec Katsuya Eguchi, talking with Kikizo, recently dropped some more interesting Wii tidbits. Specifically, he discussed some functionality that Nintendo is thinking about for their next iteration of Animal Crossing on the Wii, including using e-mail or cell phone based text messages to send letters to people in the Wii Animal Crossing world. But that’s not all - Eguchi also talked a bit about the addition of Wii peripherals and dropped this interesting note:
“Of course, if software calls for a light gun, we’ll make a light gun. If the software requires a guitar, then maybe we’ll make a guitar. Our number one priority is always to provide the ultimate gameplay experience, so if the game requires a peripheral, then we’ll supply a peripheral.”
Sounds like perhaps Nintendo and RedOctane have been talking, no? Just recently, an interview with some RedOctane execs, posted right here the company expressed a great deal of excitement about the Wii controller and mentioned using it for drumming, guitar, or (if the Wii mic is a reality) karaoke games.
Read More | Kikizo
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
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
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
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
Club Nintendo Members Can Test “Bit Generations”
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Nintendo, Retro,
Nintendo has never been one to shy away from strange gameplay ideas (see Electroplankton), but the new titles in Nintendo’s “Bit Generations” might be some of the oddest. Through these titles, which feature very simplistic graphics, Nintendo hopes to “re-examine the roots of gaming.” Now, if you’re one of the lucky member’s of Nintendo Japan’s Club Nintendo, you can get in on the action early. Nintendo is looking for 700 participants from the club to try out the 7 simple games before their July launch dates.
Nintendo definitely seems to be taking to heart their mantra that great graphics don’t necessarily make great games. It’ll be interesting to see whether these games provide deep, compelling play experiences or if they just prove that terrible graphics don’t necessarily make great games either.
Read More | Nintendo of Japan
Searching for the DS Lite
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Editorial, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Portable/Mobile,
As Playfeed previously reported, Target and other retailers have broken the street date for the new slimfast loving Nintendo DS Lite. Today I spent roughly 2 hours in search of this elusive mobile gaming platform. The new DS lite is set to be released on Sunday June 11th here in the US, but on May 30th DS Lites started appearing on shelves across the country.
Today I traveled to Walmart, Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, Gamestop, EB Games, Meijer and Sears searching for some mobile enjoyment. I wound up empty handed but still hopeful that I can find a DS Lite before the street date. The stores that I searched today are located in Findlay, OH and Toledo, OH and I can officially say that there are no DS Lites for sale in Findlay, OH. The closest I got to a DS lite was an open spot in the Meijer game cabinet which had a UPC that said DS Lite. If you want to check for locations near you that are breaking the street date follow the Read More link for the DS Lite availability Frappr map. Good Luck!
Read More | Frappr Map
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