On Gear Live: Samsung S95C: The OLED TV You Can’t Afford (to Ignore!)

Latest Gear Live Videos

Nintendo 3DS gets torn apart

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Hardware, Nintendo, Nintendo 3DS,

Nintendo 3DS teardown

The peeps over at iFixIt decided to import a Nintendo 3DS from Japan in order to give us a look at what it looks like on the inside, well in advance of the March 27th US launch date. Head on over to get a look inside of Nintendo's most ambitious handheld device to date.

Read More | iFixIt

Advertisement

GDC 2011: New Mario title coming for 3DS, Ocarina Of Time 3D coming in June

Mario Tail Logo
(Image courtesy of Destructoid.com)

According to the information from the Iwata keynote today at GDC 2011, there's a new Mario title on the way from the Galaxy team for the Nintendo 3DS. The placeholder logo has a tail attached, as pointed out by Iwata, claiming more will be revealed at E3 this year. According to him, the 3DS technology allowed Shigeru Miyamoto to address a fundamental problem with 3D location and platforming mechanics. I'd give more credit to Nintendo than to take the obvious route and link the logo imagery to the Tanooki suit, so expect a new game mechanic unique enough to warrant a logo slot.

Aditionally, it was announced that the 3D remaster of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will be hitting on June 7th. Along with 3D functionality, the game has recieved a graphical overhaul so it doesn't look quite as fugly as the N64 version. This will continue the Nintendo release strategy of using our childhoods to plaster their headquarters with money, and there's still plenty of time to hear more about the game before you decide to purchase it, so keep your eyes open for more coverage in the coming months.


GDC 2011: Nintendo 3DS picks up Netflix, 3D movie trailers, more

Posted by Alex Lifschitz Categories: Nintendo, Nintendo 3DS,

3DS at GDC '11

 

During Nintendo magnate and happy papa Satoru Iwata's keynote at the GDC today, Linebacker-In-Chief Reggie Fils-Aime took the stage briefly to discuss some new functionality slated to arrive for the Nintendo 3DS. This includes:

  • Nintendo will be partnering with Netflix to bring streaming video to the 3DS. You'll be able to pick up watched videos on your home set if you're viewing on the go. No word yet on whether Netflix will begin offering 3D movies for the device, though I wouldn't be surprised if they do in the future.
  • 3D trailers for films such as the Green Lantern will be available for download and mobile viewing.
  • Nintendo will be offering a short-form video service where they curate content for your eyeballs, kind of like the top-level videos on services like Xbox Live. They know what is best for your viewing pleasure. Obey. Obeeeeey.
  • 3D video recording! This had been hinted at for a while by Iwata, but it has been confirmed during the talk. Record videos in 3D from your handheld, watch them right back on the screen. If you thought people uploading photos of their misshapen junk to Tiger Woods games was bad, steel yourself.
  • Nintendo will be partnering with AT&T to have 10,000 existing hotspots acting as hubs for the 3DS. You'll be able to grab content, connect with other players, browse, and access other online functionality for the 3DS through yonder hotspots. I am very confident in this, because anyone with an AT&T iPhone will tell you how much they absolutely love and appreciate the service.
  • New Shops: The 3DS will be allowing you to transfer your existing DSiWare titles to your new handheld, and will be offering 2 new shops: Virtual Console, where you can get old GameBoy Color, GameBoy Advance, Turbografx, and GameGear titles, and 3D Classics, where you can get similar titles newly remastered with 3D functionality. There will also be a game promotion channel for screenshots, trailers, etc.

The update in late May will allow you to transfer your DSiWare, get a web browser, and access the shops.


Nintendo Wii sales plummet by 31.5 percent from January 2010

 

wii sales

January has just not been a pleasant month for video game sales. At least, that's according to new numbers released by NPD. Total January 2011 sales for gaming accessories, portable systems, and games for PCs and consoles fell to $1.16 billion from last year's total of $1.22 billion. And the $1.22 billion figure for January 2010 is itself a decrease from January 2009 figures, or $1.33 billion in total sales.

Breaking that number out a bit, hardware sales took the biggest year-to-year hit, dropping 8 percent from $353.7 million in January 2010 to $324 million in January 2011. NPD no longer splits this number out into publicly available data for the various console manufacturers; however, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said that Microsoft was the only big player to experience year-to-year growth on hardware sales.

According to Pachter, Microsoft sold approximately 332,800 Xbox 360 units, representing a year-to-year growth of 14.4 percent for the company. More than half of the systems sold were also bundled with Microsoft's Kinect accessory.

Nintendo, on the other hand, found its sales down 31.5 percent compared to the same period of time last year. That's a drop from 465,800 Wii consoles sold in January 2010 to 319,000 sold in January 2011. The company still leads the current console market with 34.5 million Wii units sold in the U.S., in total, with Microsoft's Xbox 360 coming in second place at 25.8 million, followed by Sony's PlayStation 3 at 15.7 million.

Click to continue reading Nintendo Wii sales plummet by 31.5 percent from January 2010


Nintendo warns against allowing kids to use Nintendo 3DS 3D functions

 

 Nintendo 3DS hazard children 

Those thinking about buying the upcoming Nintendo 3DS for your pre-schooler might want to wait a few years. In advance of its Nintendo World 2011 demo, Nintendo posted a warning that suggests children under the age of six should not use its 3D functions.

"Vision of children under the age of six has been said [to be in the] developmental stage," according to a note posted to Nintendo's Japanese site. 3D content, including the 3DS, "delivers 3D images with different left and right eye images, [which] has a potential impact on the growth of children's eyes."

Nintendo recommended the use of parental controls to only allow younger gamers to play in 2D. There is "enough for everyone to enjoy," Nintendo said.

Nintendo recommended that players of all ages take breaks from 3D content every 30 minutes - or if you feel sick.

Click to continue reading Nintendo warns against allowing kids to use Nintendo 3DS 3D functions


The Legend of Zelda prototype appears, try it now

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Adventure, Nintendo, Retro,

Zelda no Densetsu Legend of Zelda

Then as Zelda no Densetsu for the Famicon Disc System, this early prototype shows a considerably less difficult adventure for Link to conquer: enemies appear less frequently and rupees aparantly grow on trees. Other changes include minor differences in character design, such as the whiskers on the Pols Voice as seen in the pictures above (FDS version pictured left).

Click that read link to try out the rarest build of Zelda no Densetsu known to man! 

Read More | Lost Levels

2010 Holiday Gift Guide: Wii Remote Plus

wii remote plus holiday gift

When Nintendo announced Wii Sports Resort at E3 a couple years back, it was in conjunction with the Wii Motion Plus add-on, a Wii Remote attachment that sent  much more precise data about how you were moving the remote to the Wii console. It took them a while, but now you can finally ditch that dongle and go with a Wii Remote Plus controller instead. It's the same Wii Remote that you know and (maybe) love, but with the Motion Plus technology built-in, and that's worthy enough of being included in our 2010 Holiday Gift Guide. You can get them from Amazon for $38.99, a 3% savings.

Read More | Wii Remote Plus

Wii successor not a top priority for Nintendo…yet

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Nintendo, Rumors, Wii,

The Nintendo Wii has done well. Really well. Though, sales of the hit console peaked in its third year, and have since been waning. This kind of shift in sales is what usually prompts a successor to be named. Not to mention that the Wii now faces an uphill battle against the motion technologies of both Sony and Microsoft, the latter of which is taking off into American homes like hot cakes. However, Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime believes that the original Wii still has a lot of fight left in it, even against the transformed market strategies of Sony and Microsoft. 

In an interview with Kotaku journalist Stephen Totilo, Reggie stated: 

"As we sit here today we're saying the Wii has many, many more units to sell. After we've reached an installed base of 45 million here in the U.S., we can have a conversation about the next generation. "

As of now the Wii has an installed base of more than 30 million in North America. Looks like it's going to be at least another two years before we Nintendo even thinks about a new console. Or at least that's what they want us to think, wink wink. 

Read More | Kotaku

Nintendo trademarks phrase: It’s on like Donkey Kong

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Corporate News, Culture, Nintendo,

on like donkey kong nintendo

"It's on like Donkey Kong, beeyotch."

Sorry, Stifler, but not anymore. Not since Nintendo decided to make the phrase "it's on like Donkey Kong" a permanent staple of their company. 

However, if Nintendo had decided to trademark this phrase a few years ago they would've been able to cash in on the phrase's popularity, but it's not quite at the height that it was around the time that the Stif-meister brought it to mainstream popularity in American Wedding.  

This decision to now trademark the phrase comes on the heels of the announcement of Donkey Kong's return to the gaming world in the appropriately titled Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Wii. 

Lets all have a moment of silence for "it's on like Donkey Kong". Perhaps a new saying will emerge? "It's on like Banjo Kazooie", just sayin'...


Game Boy Color decals for iPhone 4

Gameboy iPhone 4 decal

If you ever looked at your iPhone 4 and thought “hey, I wish this were a Game Boy Color instead!”, then you are in luck. Etsy can bring your fantasy to life with their vinyl Game Boy Color stickers. These are no ordinary stickers, as they have an outdoor life of 5 to 7 years. Other colors and plenty of unique designs are also available from Etsy. 

Read More | Etsy

Advertisement