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Wii Warm Up: Friend code rumor fest
What's the deal with friend codes on the Wii? In the last week or so, we've seen a flurry of rumors and responses-to-rumors, and we don't even know if the system for Mario Strikers Charged will set the standard for the rest of the Wii's WiFi future. Are friend codes Mii specific? Some say yes, but there's also word that the good news about Mii-based codes may be untrue and the result of a mistranslation. We've talked at length about WiFi and the future of Wii online before, but in light of all these recent developments, we can't resist asking what you think.
Mii, friend codes linked for Mario Strikers Charged [Update 2]
Those oft-discussed Nintendo friend codes may be more universal than previously thought. In an interview with Gamers.fr, Mario Strikers Charged producer Justin Dowdeswell of Next Level Games said that the friend codes used for online games are tied to your Mii character and does not change between games."Each Mii created generates a Mii code that never changes. This code will thus be used for all other online games in the future," said Dowsedell (according to a translation done by Joystiq).Each Wii console can hold 100 Mii characters. There are one trillion possible 12-digit friend codes; some quick number-crunching reveals that Nintendo can only build ten billion Wii consoles in its lifetime. Only ten billion? Way to limit your sales, Ninty. (We're going to spell this one out: that's sarcasm.)Update: Falafelkid at Wii: Definitive speculation contacted Dowdeswell via phone, who said that "he never intended to comment on any other titles, nor would he know about how they implemented online features." Dowsedell comments as they appear above were a translation of his original words done by this writer, which we should have made more clear. However, we feel our translation was accurate to the best of our knowledge. As it was written in the interview: Chaque Mii créé génère un code Mii qui reste invariable par la suite. Ce code servira donc pour tous les autres jeux jouables en ligne dans le futur.We have contacted Dowsedell ourselves to learn that, indeed, he is not sure and was not speaking for how online will be handled with other games. "We're just aware of how we're handling Strikers stuff ... That's not to say it won't happen, but I'm not aware of that," he said to Joystiq via phone. We apologize for any misunderstanding of Dowdeswell's words specifically stemming from the phrase "all other online games in the future" (intended to mean Strikers Charged matches and not other Wii games).[Via The Platformers]
Mario Strikers makes worldwide online matches a pain
Joystiq reader Joshua Marketis sent us this scan from an instruction manual for the European version of Wii Mario Strikers. The manual states that "you will be able to play only with people within Europe" unless you have shared friend codes with someone outside of the continent, citing lag concerns.One of our favorite pleasures is playing Tetris DS online or various Xbox 360 titles over Live at odd hours against players in other regions. Without timezone constraints, we always had a large pool of players, regardless of the hours. Nintendo could have solved the problem with a latency test (assuming one doesn't already exist). Here in North America, there are times when we have less lag playing with South African correspondents than we do with someone just a few states away. It is currently unknown if the same limitations apply to other regions. We've contacted Nintendo for a statement.
Today's goal-reaching videos: Mario Strikers Charged
We collectively yawned a few days ago when the latest Mario Strikers Charged trailer appeared online -- it's a pre-animated video with no in-game footage. But the U.K. Mario Strikers commercial tipped us over the edge, and we're showing those videos in this post, especially after today's news of a U.S. July 30 release.While we're glad that the Wii is getting some online action, we chortled at the tagline of "the first online game on Wii." How about "finally, an online game on Wii"? At least the ad doesn't pretend that Mii Parade is a game.See the videos after the break.
Nintendo dates Metroid Prime 3, Mario Strikers Charged, others
Kids in the U.S. who dreamed of whiling away the summer days with Samus Aran may still be able to jam a few days of visor-scanning fun before class is back in session when Metroid Prime 3: Corruption drops on Aug. 20. At least they'll have Mario Strikers Charged, due out on July 30, to help fill the lemonade-soaked summer break. Nintendo also announced a few other August Wii releases, specifically dating High School Musical: Sing It! and Madden for August 14. Others coming sometime that month include Tiger Woods PGA Tour, Brunswick Pro Bowling, Space Station Tycoon, Dave Mirra BMX Challenge and Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection. Due out in September are Battalion Wars 2, Brothers in Arms, Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal (finally!) and George of the Jungle. Boogie is coming in fall. Nintendo announced some other notable DS releases for the summer too, including SimCity in July, Heroes of Mana on Aug. 14, Brain Age 2 on Aug. 20, Worms: Open Warfare 2 in August and Jam Sessions in September. We could add something clever here about our relative anticipation of the above games, but we imagine half of your are spinning and giggling wildly in front of your computers and we lost the other half around Looney Tunes. So, feel free to commence your waiting, or check after the jump for even more DS releases.
'The big three' ARE coming in 2007 (to Japan)
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Nintendo confirmed that they do in fact plan to release Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3 Corruption, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl by the end of this year, as well as pretty much every Nintendo game announced for the Wii. This corroborates an IGN report to the same effect, and is also totally, totally rad. Here's the full list of Nintendo's planned 2007 releases. Donkey Kong Taru Jet Race is slated for June 28, and the rest are all "2007": Donkey Kong Taru Jet Race Wii Health Pack Disaster: Day of Crisis Mario Party 8 Project H.A.M.M.E.R. Wii Music Super Mario Galaxy Super Smash Bros. Brawl Battalion Wars II Forever Blue Mario Strikers Charged Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games Keep checking with us for news of the inevitable delays of about half of these. Seriously, that's a lot of first-party Nintendo games for just half a year or so. Aw, we just made ourselves sad with our own skepticism. Still, if half of this stuff does get released in Japan this year, it'll be great news and do a pretty good job of ending any drought that may or may not be happening.Update: fixed some italics and formatting.
Mario Strikers Charged Wii online play, other details
It's been a long time coming, but the Wii's first online-enabled sports game, Mario Strikers: Charged, is getting on towards completion. French gaming mega-site JeuxFrance sat down with the developers at Next Level Games to get some details on how online gameplay will work on the Wii. Among the interesting features: Ranked matches will pair players based on win-loss records, but those records will reset at the end of three month "seasons." Unranked matches will make use Mii-specific friend lists, so multiple users on one system can have different friends. The player that earns the most ranking points every day will have their Mii featured on the log-in screen as the "player of the day." Ranking points are earned based on wins and number of goals. Disconnects will be punished with negative ranking points. Online matches can have four players at most (no four-on-four networked play). Ranked matches can be one-on-one or two-on-two, with each team sharing a system. Three-on-one and two-on-one matches are available in unranked games. The full interview also reveals many new characters and features for the sequel, including a new mega-shot that can be worth up to six points. Six points in one play? Sounds like somebody confused American football and European football again.[Via 4 Color Rebellion]
Wii goes online with Mario Strikers Charged
Move over, Pokemon. Another Wii game is receiving the Wi-Fi Connection treatment: Mario Strikers Charged. The world's favorite sport can now be played virtually by players all over the globe. A Mario-themed World Cup now seems inevitable.According to the UK official site, "Players can also utilise Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to take on players from across the globe! Multiplayer modes include Ranked mode where players can compete to climb up leaderboards and Unranked mode where they can quickly select and play friends."Charged hits UK Wii systems on May 25th. Unfortunately, a US release hasn't been announced yet.
GDC 07: Mario Strikers Charged impressions
Mario's extreme soccer game, Mario Strikers Charged was available for play at GDC. The game, a sequel to the Gamecube original, featured some impressive presentation values and some very fun gameplay. The graphics seem relatively unchanged from the original. The game does natively support 480p and widescreen modes, a nice plus for HDTV owners. Although not technically stunning, the game's cute, animated art style certainly goes easy on the eyes.The game's controls are almost too simple, with passing and shooting very easy to perform. Tackling another player comes from simply shaking the nunchuck: it's a simple Wii gesture that doesn't seem too elaborate for its own good. The Wiimote comes into further play when you must defend your goal from an opponent's special shots. They will launch up to five soccer balls, and by using the pointer, you must try to aim at the screen and press A to stop as many as you can. In theory, it's a novel idea, but as is most pointer functionality on the system, it seems like an abrupt change from the rest of the game.Mario Strikers Charged certainly doesn't innovate gaming, but it remained to be quite fun, especially in multiplayer. How it holds up to longer gameplay sessions is still to be seen, but gamers can find out when it releases later this year.
