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Bill Gates Dismisses Wii Controller
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Culture, E3, Wii, Xbox 360,
Bill Gates, speaking recently to MTV.com, was fairly dismissive of the motion-control technology that Nintendo and Sony are introducing in the next generation of consoles. Gates said, “There’s room for innovation here, but moving that controller around — it’s… not mainstream for most games… It’s tough because sometimes you move the controller, and you don’t [mean] to fly into the ground. You just want to put the controller down.” Of course, it is easy to see why this could be confusing to Gates, after all, with all the coverage given to the Wii during E3, there really wasn’t any mention of a “pause” feature. The ability to pause a game has only been included in almost every game to hit the shelves since Microsoft’s original Sidewinder Freestyle controller shipped. Gates would continue, “People aren’t that good at totally standing still.” While it is understandable that Gates might not have seen any of the actual Wii trailers on the Internet, he certainly must have passed by the Nintendo booth; the only people that might have been standing perfectly still would have been those waiting in the multiple-hour line to get a look at what Nintendo has accomplished. Gates mentioned that he leaves the details of running the games division to others, which is a good thing, considering that while he implied that Microsoft had no plans in the near future for a handheld gaming device, he is still stumping for some kind of unwieldy convergence device, “will you carry… a media device and a phone and a gaming device and, say, a tablet device for reading…” So gamers may be waiting for a while for their ideal portable gaming device from Microsoft.
Read More 
| MTV.com
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Wii Interest Grows in Japan
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: E3, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360,
Japanese gamers’ interest in Nintendo’s Wii appears to be accelerating, according to the latest poll published in Weekly Famitsu. When asked which console gamers were most interested in at E3, Wii lead the pack with 68.8% of respondents. The PS3 followed with 21% of the vote, and the Xbox 360 trailed at 7.2%. In addition, the top ten E3 games were polled, and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Final Fantasy XIII lead the list. Nintendo titles filled out the majority of the slots, with five Wii titles and one DS title. The PS3 managed three titles on the list, and somewhat surprisingly, the Xbox 360 made a showing with Halo 3 at spot number ten. Playstation 3 pricing was also a concern: 88% felt that the price was too high. It will be interesting to see if Nintendo can build on this interest, and how Sony will respond to the Japanese gamers’ concerns. Suddenly, the market that one would have thought Sony would have locked up, isn’t looking to be such a sure thing.
Read More | The Magic Box
After all the speculation and rumors, Nintendo has finally announced pricing for the Wii and its expected shipment volume. The pricing is right in line with what everyone was expecting/hoping for, but there’s no mention of what you get for the money. Apparently we’ll have to wait a little longer for bundle information and exact details. However, it’s safe to say that Nintendo has a sure thing on its hands and with the Wii’s low price, there will undoubtedly be a lot more of them under the tree this holiday season in comparison to the Xbox 360 or PS3.
From the press release:
Following its overwhelming debut at E3 2006, Nintendo today announced the current fiscal year unit shipment forecast for its new home game system, Wii™. Nintendo also confirmed that the price of the Wii system, which incorporates unique freehand control, will not exceed $250 in America, or ¥25,000 in Japan. The company plans to ship 6 million systems to retailers around the world between its launch in the fourth quarter of 2006 and the end of its fiscal year on March 31, 2007.
The projections are part of a full-year financial forecast that sees growth of 18 percent in sales globally, based on anticipated continuing strong demand for the Nintendo DS™ portable game system, as well as a successful launch for Wii.
The company also said it expects to sell 17 million Wii games in the period. Exact launch dates, identification of the launch library of titles and details on the unique Virtual Console aspect of Wii will be announced soon.
Read More | Nintendo
Kenji Eno, creator of the D series of games, and Enemy Zero on the Sega Saturn, recently told Gamasutra that he planned to return to game development, with a release on a console “...with a new control device.” The implication, or at least the inferrence made by Gamasutra, was that this meant a new game for Nintendo’s Wii. Eno’s new company will be called Fyto, or “From Yellow to Orange.”
Eno has had mixed successes in the games industry; the original D was published for the ill-fated 3DO, but would eventually see releases on multiple platforms. Similarly, the sequel, Enemy Zero would be developed for the Sega Saturn, after a row between Eno and Sony. D2 was originally intended for the M2, the follow-up console to the 3DO, but with that hardware’s death, the game moved to the Dreamcast, another console that disappeared ahead of its time. Thus, having a Kenji Eno game on a console may not be the best thing in the world. Eno’s games have been inventive, but infamous at the same time for some of their content. If there is a game in the future for the Wii, though, with Eno at the helm, it will surely be unique.
Read More | Gamasutra
Wii: Still No Digital Sound Output
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Nintendo, Rumors, Wii,
According to Infendo, there are reports that with the Wii will not be supporting digital optical audio on the console. This would match with Nintendo’s decision to not pursue HD gaming in this generation’s console offering. Instead, Nintendo will continue to focus on utilizing Dolby Pro Logic II, which encodes 5.1 channel audio support into a stereo output through a matrixing technique. A number of Gamecube games used this technique, including the US launch title, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, and a few Playstation 2 titles had Pro Logic encoded output. While DPLII can be effective, it is not as clean of a solution as true Dolby Digital. Still, even if the Wii doesn’t support real-time Dolby Digital encoding of its output, it would have been nice to have a true digital audio solution, even if it meant simple PCM encoding of the sound.
Read More | Infendo
E3: Reflections & Musings
Posted by Chris Cardinal Categories: E3, Editorial, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Wii,
E3 2006 is now over and I’ve got some sleep and licked my wounds. Without a doubt, the console to love was Wii this year. Stupid name and all, droves of people flocked to play it and thousands of press outlets threw their support behind it, often lambasting the horribly-conceived abomination that is the Playstation 3. Wii will be affordable, fun, innovative, original and simple. It won’t have the flashiest graphics on the block, but it’ll blow you away with how much fun you can have interacting. The Playstation 3 is exactly as it sounds: Playstation 2, with better graphics. Plus slipshod, “innovative”-except-not-at-all tilt sensing. Oh, and minus rumble feedback. They’ve actually proactively downgraded the controller, citing “difficulties” integrating tilt and rumble, nevermind the fact that Nintendo seems to have no troubles whatsoever with the concept. (The real reasoning plays to a dark underbelly of litigation brought on by technology company Immersion. Sony just keeps whiffing here, don’t they?)
Oh, and a very special thanks to the Electronic Software Association for putting on the E3 Expo, and also managing to completely botch up this giant banner hanging over the Expo’s West Hall exit. Bravo, guys. You could at least get the year right, hm?
Live From E3: Fun Wii Facts Confirmed
Posted by Chris Cardinal Categories: E3, Fighting, Nintendo, Wii,
We’re well aware things have been a bit sparse over here, but we have tons of video we’re working on editing, encoding and sending upwards on a ridiculously finicky internet connection. Sit tight, because some of the things we have in store are pretty damn cool.
ANYway, we got into the invite-only portion of the Wii demos and I was able to speak to a few Nintendo employees for their take on the name, questions about the Wiimote and anything else that crossed my mind.
Here are some of the facts we were able to confirm:
- At Launch:
The Wii will ship the same way most every Nintendo console system has: Wii Remote (Wiimote, get it?), Nunchuk and console, with no games. The classic controller will not be included. - Accessorizing:
The default purchase package for additional controllers will all include the Nunchuk as well. You won’t have to purchase it separately, though they weren’t able to comment on price.
Find out more about the Wii Remote’s battery situation, licensing old titles, what they thought of the name and more, after the jump.
Click to continue reading Live From E3: Fun Wii Facts Confirmed
Smash Bros. Dojo Opens
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Corporate News, E3, Trailers, Wii,
Since Nintendo’s surprise announcement of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Smash Bros. Dojo has opened. The Dojo currently features excerpts from Weekly Famitsu, where the creator of the game, Masahiro Sakurai, on how the Wii version of the game came to be. There is also a music section, featuring a track from the soundtrack created by famed Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu. Finally, the sneak trailer shown at E3 is also online, and it is here that viewers can see the upgraded character models and environments, plus a peek at some of the new characters in the game, including MetaKnight from the Kirby series, Wario, Zero Suit Samus, Pit from Kid Icarus, and possibly the most unexpected character, Snake, from the Metal Gear Series. The site promises more information in the future, including more in depth character information.
Read More | Smash Bros. Dojo.
Official Wii Site Updated
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, E3, Screenshots, Trailers, Wii,
Post E3 Nintendo Press Conference, the Nintendo Wii website has been updated with new content. Gamers can find gameplay trailers, demonstrating how the controller will interact with the various announced games, including Zelda: Twilight Princess,Super Mario Galaxy,Metroid Prime 3. In addition, some gameplay clips are shown from a variety of other games, including:
- Dragon Quest Swords
- Fire Emblem
- Tony Hawk Downhill
- Sengoku Action
- Excite Truck
- Red Steel
- Rayman 4
- Sonic Wild Fire
- Final Fantasy Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
- Madden
- Project H.A.M.M.E.R.
...and many others. Some of the controller actions in the new Wario Ware game look totally insane, and it will be interesting to see how much 3rd party acceptance the new controller gets. At the very least, however, it looks like gamers can expect some excellent first party titles from Nintendo. There are hardware details as well, including information on wireless networking, and support for old Gamecube controllers. And at least so far, there aren’t two SKUs for the Wii, meaning that no one will have to choose between a core and extended Wii configuration.
Read More | Wii.Nintendo.com
Wii Hardware Pics, Empty Shells And More
Posted by John Goulden Categories: E3, Hardware, Nintendo, Wii,
Sure, you’ve seen shots of the Nintendo Wii before, but here are some fresh from E3. Note the sensor bar for the Wii Controller, and the Zapper concept which takes a standard controller and gives it an easier to use form-factor for shooting games. Also of note is the Classic style which will come in handy for Virtual Console games. If you’re not familiar with Virtual Console, think of it as all of your old Nintendo favorites reincarnated for the Wii and available for download.
The unofficial word in the Nintendo booth is that most, if not all, of the Wii units available for play are merely mock-ups. A Nintendo representative did tell us that there were “a few working Wii systems”, but declined to mention if any of them were present at the E3 booth.
Click to continue reading Wii Hardware Pics, Empty Shells And More
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