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What’s Wii’s Online Strategy For This Coming Year?
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Accessories, Editorial, Internet, Nintendo, Wii,
One way in which the Wii has definitely been lagging behind its next-gen competitors is the online arena. As it currently stands, the WiiConnect-24 service doesn’t REALLY seem to be connected 24-hours a day, and your online activities are pretty much limited to 1) visiting the Mii Parade (woo hoo) 2) checking a weather “forecast” that’s often a few hours behind 3) surfing the net with the beta Opera browser and 4) paying for old games via the Virtual Console service.
Now granted, Nintendo has a lot on its plate these days. In addition to just producing enough Wii’s to meet demand, they’re also working on a few blockbuster titles (Mario Galaxy and Pokemon Battle Revolution among them) and probably spending a fair chunk of time porting old games to the VC library. But still, Nintendo, we’re going to need something to keep us interested in Wii’s online service.
Matt over at IGN points to some previous discussions he’s had with NOA’s George Harrison, to give us a glimpse at what we can expect from the big N in 2007:
I interviewed Nintendo of America’s George Harrison a couple months back and he said that the company would eventually offer a variety of content on the Wii Shopping Channel, including add-ons and demos. I think Nintendo also wants to nurture a homebrew development scene of some kind. I’d be surprised if we didn’t hear more about all of the above at the Game Developers Conference in March. In the meantime, all I can tell you is that Nintendo’s online network is in its infancy and can only improve over time. Eventually, I’m positive there will be demos for everyone to download and try.
That sounds great and all, but honestly I think it’s time for some firm announcements and some much-needed changes.
Here’s our own list of what needs to change and what needs to be improved (after the jump!)
Click to continue reading What’s Wii’s Online Strategy For This Coming Year?
Read More 
| Wii.ign.com
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Oblivion Developer: Blu-Ray is Slower
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Corporate News, PlayStation 3, Rumors, Xbox 360,
The latest shot in the HD-DVD / Blu-Ray battle has been fired, this time coming from Oblivion developer Bethesda Software. According to the developers of the game, the Blu-Ray drive data rates are slower than those on, for instance, the Xbox-360’s DVD drive. Says Todd Howard at Bethesda:
“Drive speed matters more to me [than capacity], and Blu-ray is slower.”
What does this mean? Well, in general, longer load times and more cacheing to the harddrive. In fact, in order to get Oblivion to load on the PS3 as fast as it does on the Xbox-360, Bethesda duplicated key data from the game, storing it on multiple places in the disc to lower access times. There’s no word on how much of the code was duplicated, but it still seems to go against Sony’s message that developers need 50GB of storage space. It sounds like, if the drive were faster, the HD-DVD standard of ~30GB / disc could be adequate.
Read More | Gameworld Network
RedOctane Talks Guitar Hero Changes
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Activision, Music,
It was revealed earlier in the week that the Guitar Hero franchise was going to change developers from Harmonix to Neversoft. RedOctane talked with GameDaily Biz about the change. Basically this seems like a creative control and financial move; moving the development in-house allows RedOctane more control over the development process, and may allow the company to save some money by leveraging existing assets. Still, there are concerns that the move will mean the popular title may change for the worse. RedOctane’s response does little to really allay those concerns; time will tell to see how the franchise changes in the future.
Read More | GameDaily Biz
Call Of Duty 3 Map Pack Broken
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Activision, First Person Shooters, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Gaming blog 2old2play is reporting that the Valor Map Pack, the 800 point content add-on for Call of Duty 3 shipped in a non-functional state. Referring to multiple complaints on the Xbox forums, it appears that a small percentage of people have gotten the content working by deleting previously downloaded content, but a majority can not get the maps to work. A post by a Treyarch employee indicates that they are working on the problem, but this appears to be an ongoing quality assurance issue for Xbox Live content. Xbox Live Arcade games and downloadable add-on content for other games have shipped in partially functioning states, and retail games have also seen issues. It appears that Microsoft’s certification testing team can find some issues; anticipated releases like the Crackdown demo have been delayed because of problems found during certification. Balancing the release process against the risks of not finding issues can be difficult, but it seems like major issues are going unnoticed.
Read More | 2old2play
Live Arcade Download Limit Grows To 250MB
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
1up is reporting that Microsoft is lifting the 50 MB size cap for Xbox Live Arcade downloads. Citing anonymous sources, 1up states that the new maximum size for Arcade games can now be as high as 250 MB. With special dispensation from Microsoft, content can become as large as 650 MB. Officially, Microsoft is denying the changes to their program. However, it is known that Konami has already received an exception for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Microsoft’s reasoning for the 50 MB limit was initially to provide Core system users access to Xbox Live Arcade content, but with a 256 MB Memory Card coming, this limit may no longer be necessary. The changes to the file limitations may in part be related to the competition; Sony has no such limits for their downloadable content, and Microsoft may feel that additional resources for Xbox Live Arcade titles may be necessary to keep up.
Read More | 1up
Oblivion Expansion Shivering Isles Coming This Spring
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Internet, PC, Role Playing Games, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
Bethesda Softworks announced that Elder Scrolls: Shivering Isles, an expansion for Elder Scrolls: Oblivion will be coming to the Xbox 360 and the PC this Spring. The expansion should add more than 30 hours of gameplay to the already expansive title, and will be available through retail channels for the PC, and via Xbox Live for the Xbox 360. Given that the expansion will add a completely new realm to the Elder Scrolls universe, one expects that this expansion will be one of the largest Xbox Live add-ons to date, and possibly one of the most expensive. No mention of the add-on was made for the upcoming Playstation 3 version of the game; this could possibly be included on disc, but this doesn’t seem to be a likely option at this time.
The full press release continues below.
Click to continue reading Oblivion Expansion Shivering Isles Coming This Spring
Read More | Shivering Isles Screenshots
Using Unlicensed Cables, Controllers Voids Your PS3 Warranty (!!)
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories:
PS3 owners dealing with broken units have had some problems getting their consoles fixed. The reason? Well, it’s all plain as day for everyone to see in the PS3 Warranty Text:
(2) THE PRODUCT IS USED WITH PRODUCTS NOT SOLD OR LICENSED BY SCEA (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NON-LICENSED GAME ENHANCEMENT DEVICES, CONTROLLERS, ADAPTORS AND POWER SUPPLY DEVICES). YOU ASSUME ALL RISKS AND LIABILITIES ASSOCIATED WITH USE OF THIRD PARTY PRODUCTS.
In other words: if you didn’t use a PS3-branded or Sony-licensed HDMI cable when connecting up your PS3, you’ve just voided your warranty. This problem was first found be a user over in the AVS Forums who called Sony with a broken PS3. When he told them that he hooked up his console with generic component cables, they told him that his formerly-under-warranty repair would cost him $150. (Fortunately, Target was nicer to him and accepted it as a 90-day return). If you’ve connected your PS3 to your TV with something other than a Sony-branded or licensed cable, and you want to get anywhere with Sony customer service, we can only offer one piece of advice: LIE.
I can understand Sony not offering to repair consoles that are damaged by mod chips or hacks. But “controllers, adaptors, and power supply devices”? That just sounds like Sony is looking for any way it can to wriggle out of liability. Guess it’s time to start looking for the Sony seal of approval on every controller and cable you buy for the console…
Read More 
| Official Playstation Warranty Text
Read More | AVS Forums Post via Consumerist
Ubisoft Announces “Cosmic Family” for Wii
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Corporate News, Release Dates, Ubisoft,
While the Xbox 360 is the current king of the online arena, there’s likewise little doubt that the Wii is quickly becoming king of the mini- and micro-game arena. Rayman: Raving Rabbids and now WarioWare: Smooth Moves have proven to be great entries on the mini-game front, and Ubisoft will soon be releasing it’s second entry, Cosmic Family. The Fam’ will be a more (surprise!) family-oriented game and is “designed to improve children’s memory, hand-eye coordination, creativity and imagination.” It sounds like a great idea, especially given the Wii’s implementation of a simple point-n-click interface.
Any bets on whether the Wii may be taking a chunk of business away from the LeapFrog in the near future? Cosmic Family will be launching in mid-2007, and we’ll keep our eyes open for screenshots and gameplay impressions as the title develops.
The full press release can be found after the jump…
Click to continue reading Ubisoft Announces “Cosmic Family” for Wii
Read More | Ubisoft.com
Microsoft Wants Your Help to Improve Xbox Live
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Strategy, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
It’s fairly safe to say that Microsoft is currently in the enviable position of currently having the most versatile and robust online service of all the next-gen consoles. With everything they’ve learned from the original Xbox, and their year head start on the other two next-gen consoles, the Xbox 360 was able to gain this upper hand in the online department. But does this mean the big M$ is going to rest on their laurels? Heck no. In fact, Microsoft wants suggestions from you, Mr. Xbox 360 owner, on how exactly Xbox Live can become even better.
Head on over to MajorNelson’s blog to check out his call for suggestions. Interestingly, MajorNelson seems to be focused on the question of how Xbox Live can be made better for Xbox users, while the original call from Ozymandias is more interested in the question of the “Live” service pertaining to multiple devices (i.e., Zune, PC, Xbox, etc.), so it’s not clear what the focus of their new developments will be. Given that the big Bill has recently admitted that the Xbox 360 is M$‘s way of getting its tentacles into your home entertainment center, though, it’s a pretty sure bet that they’re eventually working on dominating your entire living room.
Read More | Ozymandias’ Blog
Read More | Major Nelson's Blog
Retail Channel Has PS3 Availabilty, No Wii
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Wii,
American Technology Research’s recent stock check of the retail channel is showing PS3 availability but no Wii availability, according to a Reuters report. Analyst Paul-Jon McNealy found 28 of 52 stores had Playstation 3 consoles for sale; none of the 52 stores had any Wii consoles at all. Apparently most stores had single-digit availability, with one store having more than 60 machines in stock. Without further data, it is hard to judge what the stock situations actually mean. Nintendo could be trickling in Wii consoles as they try and sate demand for the game system worldwide. Sony claims that the recent pockets of availability are due to their continued efforts to fill their shipping channel. Future sales numbers will be the only way to determine whether Sony’s claims are correct or if demand is really softening.
Read More | Reuters
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