You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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It didn't take long for console warriors, fanboys and a brutal media to take aim at Nintendo's Wii U. The fledgling system was relentlessly teased for its name (seemingly even sillier than that of its predecessor) and a list of specifications certain to be outdone by its competitors. The device's novel tablet controller stayed judgment for a short time, but it didn't last long -- a weak launch lineup, a slow operating system and software delays soured an already judgmental community.

Wii U detractors eventually climbed atop their soapboxes to issue their final verdicts: Nintendo is doomed. A premature prophecy, perhaps, but one that became increasingly difficult to argue with: diminishing sales and third-party desertion set a negative tone for the Wii U's future. Dedicated fans (this editor among them) quickly fell into a defensive position, dismissing EA's abandonment of the platform with promises of Nintendo's own first-party wonders. Optimism reigns supreme. Still, with both Microsoft and Sony's cards on the table, it's clear that Nintendo is about to take another hit.

Filed under: Gaming, Nintendo

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Nintendo seems to have a knack for repeat performances. Nintendo DS? Quickly supplanted by the DS Lite -- and the DSi didn't last too long either before it was succeeded by the DSi XL. Even the 3DS saw a revision, when it was supersized last summer. These redesigns typically don't change more than the device's size, but when the 3DS XL was announced, some gamers were left wanting. Didn't the original 3DS get an accessory specifically to address the lack of a second analog pad? Why didn't Nintendo take the opportunity to add dual-analog controls? Well, if that happened, Nintendo couldn't release an encore Circle Pad Pro accessory, could it? Let's take a look at the 3DS XL Circle Pad Pro and see what's changed.

Gallery: 3DS XL Circle Pad Pro

Filed under: Peripherals, Nintendo

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There's nothing more frustrating than watching a product or service get announced, then having to wait an age to try it out. Nintendo hears that, and has announced via Nintendo Direct, that during E3 week, Best Buy will have playable demos of as-yet released Wii U games in 100 stores across the US and Canada. Given that no one was likely expecting any new hardware from the firm, it's clear the gaming stalwart is looking for other ways to stir-up some interest. There's no mention of titles, so we're left to assume they'd be the games announced at the show. Either way, scratch out that week in June to make sure you find out first hand. Scrub right to the end of the video past the break to see the announcement for yourself.

Filed under: Gaming, Nintendo

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Via: Joystiq

USSR and the USA. Batman and Joker. Christoph Waltz and... well, everyone. It's pretty tough to look at the world's best-known rivalries and exclude one of history's finest -- that being, of course, Sonic and Mario. The gritty battle between Nintendo and Sega gave fans on both sides plenty to converse about over the years, and one might say that the video game industry as a whole benefited from the back-and-forth. Now that Sega is a shell of its former self, though, the company's most iconic character is turning to its archrival in search of shelter. On the console side, Nintendo will be the exclusive home for Sonic games going forward, with the Wii U and 3DS set to become the homes for the next three titles -- details of which should be revealed "in the coming weeks." (Update: Looks as if Nintendo has outed a few more details. Sonic Lost World and Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games have been name-checked in particular.)

Meanwhile, Android users will be pleased to know that Sonic the Hedgehog was released today in the Google Play store. It's available for $2.99, while iOS users are also being granted a free update to coincide.

Filed under: Gaming, Mobile, Nintendo

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Via: Joystiq

Source: Nintendo, Google Play

Earlier this month, EA DICE's Johan Andersson dropped a major bomb: Frostbite 3 won't be ported to the Wii U. The news meant that the company's next-gen franchises were doomed to skip the console: No Battlefield 4, no Star Wars games, no Mass Effect spin-off. Now, EA's Jeff Brown is saying the same fate applies to all of the company's titles, telling Kotaku that the company has "no games in development for the Wii U currently."

The confirmation isn't too surprising, but it is a crushing blow to fans who were banking on EA's 2011 promise to support the console. Although Brown wouldn't rule out the possibility of the company returning to the platform, Kotaku was told that EA feels it fulfilled that promise by releasing games like Mass Effect 3 and Need For Speed Most Wanted during the Wii U's formative months. Despite the loss of third party support, Nintendo has previously urged gamers to be patient. After all, E3 is just around the corner.

Filed under: Gaming

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Source: Kotaku

We'd probably say something like, "I always thought it would be cool to build a giant fire breathing piranha plant," and then promptly forget about following through. Also, hey, that sounds dangerous! Hack-a-day's Caleb Kraft, however, doesn't allow silly things like fear of seared human flesh get between him and his dreams. (This is the same man who created an incredible Portal gun, in case you forgot the name.)

Kraft created a six-foot tall, fire-breathing "piranha plant" -- also known as "that bastard plant hiding in Super Mario World's pipes" -- using PVC pipe, butane and a whole mess of other materials. The results are -- well, we can think of a variety of adjectives that'd fit perfectly well here, but you'll likely come up with a few of your own after watching the video of it in action below the break.

Filed under: Misc, Gaming, Science, Alt, Nintendo

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Source: Hack-a-day

Another week with Google Glass and, as I grow more accustomed to having it in my life, I find myself struggling more and more to come up with reasons to wear the thing. I'm still very happy to stop on the street and give people a demo, but if I'm being honest, I don't need that much attention from strangers in my life. Don't get me wrong, I'm still very excited about the potential here, but it's safe to say the novelty is running out.

Still, this week Glass did get a nice improvement. The XE5 update was released late Tuesday night and shipped with a series of small but important niceties, like notifications from Google+ and the ability to do a search from anywhere in the UI. Unfortunately, this update also changes things such that uploads will only occur from the headset when it's plugged in and on WiFi. That'll help battery life -- at a somewhat unfortunate cost to wireless functionality.

Filed under: Misc, Blackberry

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Those who don't hang out at Japanese arcades (who doesn't?) have missed out on Pokemon Tretta, which has players building virtual Pokemon collections through real tokens they win in battle. It's not always easy to visit the local gaming den, however -- so Nintendo, Marvelous AQL and Takara Tomy Arts are releasing Pokemon Tretta Lab to use those creature libraries elsewhere. The add-on for the 3DS and 3DS LL combines a downloadable game with a dual-token scanner that can be used to fight other players, practice against AI or simply study new critters. Pokemon Tretta Lab ships to Japan on August 10th for ¥3,800 ($38), and it may be tempting to newcomers when tokens for Eevee, Lucario and Mewtwo are in the box. Unfortunately, the rest of the world will likely have to watch from afar. While it's easy for a Pikachu handheld to cross borders, Tretta Lab's dependence on a healthy arcade market all but rules out a similar trip.

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Peripherals, Nintendo

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Via: Tiny Cartridge

Source: Pokemon Tretta (translated)

Not exactly earth-shattering news in the weeks leading up to E3, but Nintendo Japan announced some nice little additions to its Google-powered Wii Street U. The panoramic mapping service is getting support for the proprietary Miiverse social network, letting you share favorite locations and tag images with emotions like "amazing," "beautiful," "fun" and "scary." And for those times when you don't want to give too much away, you can set things to "spoiler." More update spoilers can be found in the source link below.

Filed under: Gaming, GPS, Nintendo

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Via: Neogaf

Source: Nintendo (translated)

EA's Frostbite 3 engine, which underpins many of the company's next generation titles, looks like it won't support Nintendo's Wii U. Johan Andersson, Technical Director of the Frostbite project at EA DICE, says the company tested Frostbite 2 on the console and found the results to be "not too promising," to the point where it "chose not to go down [the] path" of porting the next version. Leaked slides from earlier this year revealed that EA has approximately 15 games in development that use Frostbite 3, the implication being that Wii U gamers are going to miss out on some fairly big titles, including Battlefield 4, Star Wars, the next Mass Effect and, as Joystiq pointed out last week, this year's version of Madden NFL. It all adds up to a notable loss of support for the new console -- but hey, EA-style gaming was hardly a core part of the Nintendo experience in the first place.

Filed under: Gaming, Nintendo

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Via: Joystiq

Source: NeoGAF, @repi (Twitter)

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

Comments

While we knew Nintendo was happy to hook up its newest consoles with smartphones, we thought that would only extend to social networking and shopping. Nope, it looks like the company is planning to go a step further, with a report from Japan Times suggesting that the games maker is offering high-level conversion software to app developers "so they can produce smartphone games that can be played on Wii U." A weak existing games library has been blamed for Nintendo's recent financial woes and the company is hoping the addition of some popular titles will offer enough of a reason to invest in a dedicated device. We just hope it's able to glean some fresh gaming gems -- the first Angry Birds title launched in 2009.

Filed under: Gaming, Nintendo

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Via: ZDNet

Source: Japan Times

The difference between the Wii and Wii U are readily apparent to most contemporary gamers, but some consumers are having trouble telling them apart. "Some have the misunderstanding that the Wii U is just Wii with a pad for games," Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told Investors last week, "others even consider Wii U GamePad as a peripheral device connectable to Wii." Nintendo is eager to clear up the confusion, of course, and pushed a notification to internet connected Wii consoles stating it plainly. "Wii U is the all-new home console from Nintendo. It's not just an upgrade -- it's an entirely new system that will change the way you and your family experience games and entertainment." The note also assures readers that their Wii accessories will work on the new console, and gives a brief run down of the console's selling points: the Wii U GamePad, backwards compatibility and HD graphics. The humble message probably isn't enough to repair the damage done by product's nearly identical names, but it's definitely a step in the right direction. Check out the full statement after the break.

[Thanks, Will]

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Via: IGN

While some people associate the word "jailbreaking" with prison riots or smartphone hacking, the most mainstream of cracking subcultures also takes on video game consoles. A mod chip developer known as WiiKey is now claiming to have reverse engineered the Wii U's disk encryption, making it possible to play "backed up" copies of games via a USB drive. The group says its "WiikeU" optical drive emulator is region free and compatible with all Wii U console models. So far the hacking brood has yet to furnish any proof of its claims, but Nintendo is very much aware of the situation.

Nintendo is aware that a hacking group claims to have compromised Wii U security; however, we have no reports of illegal Wii U games nor unauthorized applications playable on the system while in Wii U mode. Nintendo continuously monitors all threats to its products' security and will use technology and will take the necessary legal steps to prevent the facilitation of piracy.

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Nintendo

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Via: Eurogamer

Source: WiiKey (1), (2)

Like Punxsutawney Phil's shadowgazing, we can rightfully expect a new Call of Duty game to be announced annually and available at the holidays. Also like our groundhog friend, the only annual questions we must ask are in the details -- what is this year's Call of Duty about, and who's making it? It turns out that this year's Duty development, unsurprisingly, falls on Infinity Ward's shoulders -- the folks who created the much lauded Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare -- and it's named "Call of Duty: Ghosts." The first-person shooter is arriving on a whole mess of platforms this November 5th, including Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, but also PlayStation 4 and the next Xbox -- given that we don't know release dates for the PlayStation 4 and the next Xbox, it stands to reason that Ghosts will arrive on a different date for those platforms. It's also likely we'll see a handheld version on Nintendo's 3DS made by someone other than Infinity Ward, but we've got no direct word on that just yet. More ambiguous, Nintendo's Wii U isn't listed, but it stands to reason it'll head that way as well (the last series entry, Black Ops 2, got a Wii U version).

The "Ghosts" in the title references ... well, we're not entirely sure. Previous CoD games featured a character named "Ghost" fairly prominently, though the plurality indicates a game about more than one individual. Infinity Ward head Mark Rubin calls Ghosts "a new sub-brand" in the CoD franchise, and it's getting a new (unnamed) game engine to boot -- another indicator that previous characters aren't involved. We're holding out hope that the often overserious, dramatic tone of previous CoD games is being completely thrown out in favor of a goofy game about hunting ghosts. The bullets pass right through their ethereal form! Run for your life! We'll hear more about Call of Duty: Ghosts at Microsoft's big next-gen console unveiling on May 21st, so hold tight. The first teaser video is just below the jump.

Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo

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Source: YouTube

It's easy for us to go shopping for a refurbished Nintendo handheld at stores and auction houses, but not if we're looking for a huge bargain: small discounts and dodgy quality often make it wiser to buy new instead. Nintendo has just offered us some better reasons to scrimp and save by quietly offering both the DSi XL and 3DS through its refurb shop. The used (and occasionally bruised) systems respectively start at $100 and $130, or $30 and $40 less than they'd normally cost -- enough to justify splurging on a game or two. While the selection is currently scarce, we'll set that qualm aside when everything gets the same year-long warranty as a new unit. About the only debate left is whether or not we're looking for a dedicated game machine in the first place.

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Nintendo

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Via: Nintendo Everything, Ars Technica

Source: Nintendo

This week I'm writing from a special place: from the perspective of a Google Glass owner. Well, to be honest I'm not wearing them this exact moment -- I'm actually at 30,000 feet, making the most of a Gogo connection, and when your phone is in airplane mode there's not much point in wearing the headset. Unless, of course, you're looking for a conversation starter. In that role, the headset performs impeccably even when turned completely off.

It's been an interesting couple days wearing the headset around, days I'll continue to chronicle on the site because I know many of you are eager to know what Glass is like. I know this because I've had dozens of strangers come up to me and ask, "What's it like?" Suffice to say, Glass is very interesting and the potential is compelling, but right now the thing is somewhat frustrating in its limited functionality. That'll change real soon as more developers get to grips with the Mirror API.

Filed under: Apple, Samsung, Sony, Google, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, Nintendo

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The first of Nintendo's planned Wii U firmware updates went live just yesterday, bringing a much needed speed boost to software load times. And in that short time since, Nintendo's also made its retro-gaming Virtual Console portal available to users, effectively bypassing the need to boot into the Wii emulator for access. The downside to this new, belated convenience is that users will have to re-download any previously purchased Virtual Console titles, though that additional cost is relatively low at $1.00- $1.50 for NES and SNES games, respectively. Unfortunately, you'll still have to wait a bit longer for those beloved Game Boy Advance and N64 classics to make their way to the VC, as Nintendo plans to include those games sometime "in the future." Still, with band-aid number one out of the way for the ailing console and a host of tried-and-true classics now easily accessible, Wii U owners have a little something to tide them over until that late summer Pikmin 3 launch.

Filed under: Gaming, Nintendo

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Source: Nintendo of America (Twitter)

Nintendo's hardware sales may be in a bit of a stupor, but its downloadable games are a different story. During today's financial results briefing, the company's president, Satoru Iwata, announced that digital sales for the 2013 fiscal year, which ended in March, cruised past ¥16 billion (around $160.9 million), more than doubling transactions from the last two years. Nintendo's frontman went on to credit the demand for downloadable game add-ons and the convenience of digital titles as contributing factors in the company's surge. Iwata also pointed out that most 3DS owners are using their systems online. This includes 87 percent of the handheld's owners in Japan and 83 percent in the US. While these numbers are impressive, the system's internet use statistics start to dwindle in Europe, where its user connectivity rate is only 57 percent. The Wii U's user base is almost as connected, with 80 percent of the platform's owners taking the system online The company's e-commerce may be thriving, but we wouldn't bet on seeing Nintendo announce a download-only console during its E3 keynote presentation.

Filed under: Gaming, Nintendo

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Via: Joystiq

Source: Nintendo

Owning a Wii U can feel like an exercise in patience: games and apps can take up to 30 seconds to load, and downloaded software needs to be manually installed. Thankfully, Nintendo heard its fans lamentations, and has issued the first of two major updates designed to mitigate the problem. In addition to dramatically speeding up software load times, the update revises how the Wii U handles downloads and installs. Rather than manually having to install software, the system will automatically update, download and unwrap patches in the background, even if the console is powered down. The system update also puts the finishing touches on the Wii U Virtual Console, which is promised to launch officially in the coming days. Nintendo's old VC can be accessed a little quicker now, too, as the update now allows users to jump directly into the sandboxed Wii ecosystem by holding the B button during start up. All in all, a pretty solid update to a system that needs a little fixing. Check out the full list of changes after the break.

Filed under: Gaming, Nintendo

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Sure, we've seen game consoles modified for use beyond their original purpose, but this apparatus turns things up a notch. Pictured above is the Joysound Festa, a mobile entertainment system powered by the Wii U's hardware and software. Built by Japanese karaoke machine maker Xing, this beastly console mod is controlled from the system's Gamepad and includes the gracelessly named Nintendo x Joysound Wii Karaoke U. Pre-loaded with 90,000 songs, this party starter also ships with a set of dance, exercise, yoga and brain training videos. Already reaching for your wallet? You should know that this unique setup is Japan-only, and headed to hotels and nursing homes at a hefty price of 1,580,000 yen (around $15,884). At that price, it may take around 25 years until we see one of these bad boys up for grabs on eBay.

Filed under: Gaming, Nintendo

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Via: Kotaku

Source: Joysound Festa (translated)