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Nintendo Wii HD / Project Cafe rumor roundup: What will E3 hold for the gaming giant?
We're a few days out from E3, that magical place where dreams are made and fanboys and girls from all walks of life are simultaneously appeased and slightly disappointed. Surprises are expected from all of the big three this year -- particularly Nintendo. How will the gaming giant top last year's 3DS debut? All signs point to the announcement of a Wii followup, which we've heard alternately referred to as the "Wii HD" and "Project Cafe." Rumors, leaks, and the occasional bit of confirmed information have been rampant in the months and weeks leading up to the event. We've weaved it all together into one handy guidebook, to make sure that we're all on the same page, come Tuesday morning. Let's start with a genuine bit of information: back in April, the company's CEO, Satoru Iwata, confirmed that Nintendo is, in fact, working on an HD followup to the Wii that is most likely due out in 2012. A few days prior to that revelation, the requisite blurry images of console concepts surfaced, detailing controllers with embedded touchscreens that display the system's 1080p gameplay via a technology called Stream Screen. These certainly weren't the first concepts of the console we've seen -- and they were apparently first brought to light by the folks at 4Chan.
Nintendo drops DS Lite to $100, makes it easier to (Mario) party
Hot on the heels of a Wii price drop from about two weeks ago, Nintendo has announced that it'll be lowering the DS Lite's price to $100 (from about $130) starting on June 5th. The big N claims that its pushed over 48.9 million DS handhelds to consumers in the U.S., adding that many of the Mario DS titles have also sold well into the millions. To highlight the achievements, six of the best selling Mario themed games for DS will be getting a red makeover to their packaging -- see above right -- for easy pickin's at your favorite retail shop (no discount apparently). It may not have 3D, but the drop in price, added with less eye strain, and a long lasting battery should be enough to make the 3DS a little jealous.
Nintendo drops Wii price to $150 from May 15th, throws in a free Wii Wheel and copy of Mario Kart
Turns out our snooping was spot on -- Nintendo has just made official its intention to drop the suggested retail price of the Wii down to $149.99, and will additionally include a copy of Mario Kart and the Wii Wheel peripheral with all purchases of the console. They'll replace the current bundle of Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort games. The steering wheel, along with the Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk controllers, will match the color of the console you buy, whether it be black or white, and will also be available to buy separately for a scant $9.99. See Nintendo's full press release after the break.
Nintendo Wii Vitality Sensor still coming to a hand near you, says Iwata
For a product with the word "vitality" in its name, Nintendo's forthcoming Wii peripheral doesn't seem to have much of a pulse these days. The oddball controller certainly piqued our interest when the gaming giant showed it off way back in 2009, but aside from some false alarms and an uncovered patent application, we haven't heard a peep. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata addressed the Vitality Sensor's conspicuous absence during a financial presentation, chalking the delay up to "differences in biological information in humans." The peripheral is still coming, according to Iwata, but it won't be released until the company can make it work well with 99 percent of consumers -- a tall order indeed. And what about the other one percent? Well, perhaps they can try these on for size.
Nintendo confirms next Wii coming in 2012, will preview it at E3
Nintendo has just announced it plans to introduce a successor to its Wii console next year, a "playable model" of which will be shown off at the E3 gaming expo in Los Angeles coming up on June 7th. No details are available as to how the next Wii will improve on the first one, though we imagine Nintendo will be happy if it simply matches the success of its current-gen home entertainer -- the brief note publicizing the new roadmap also comes with a total of Wii sales accumulated between its launch in '06 and the end of last month: 86.01 million. That's said to be on a "consolidated shipment basis," so maybe Nintendo is mixing its definitions of sales and shipments the way Sony likes to, but it's a mighty big number either way. Bring on E3, we say! Update: Bloomberg has provided the first official hint about Nintendo's next console with a quote from company President Satoru Iwata. Nintendo will "propose a new approach to home video game consoles," though it won't be a simple move to 3D, as Iwata notes "it's difficult to make 3-D images a key feature, because 3-D televisions haven't obtained wide acceptance yet." Given that motion gaming is no longer new and 3D is off the table until 3DTVs go mainstream, we're now left facing only one potentiality -- Nintendo is planning on bringing genuine innovation to our living rooms. We suppose it also adds fuel to the rumor of a crazy next-gen controller to go with this next-gen console.
Augmented reality Tetris game uses Kinect hack, Wiimote, smooth jazz (video)
What does it take for a gaming classic to survive in a world ruled by titles like Portal 2 and Homefront? A Kinect hack, a Wiimote, and some electronic elbow grease, apparently. Trinity College student Keysosaurus -- as he's know to his YouTube pals -- has used a bit of C#, XNA, and OpenNI coding to play 3D augmented reality Tetris using Kinect body controls and a Wiimote. The Kinect gestures do most of the work, rotating the board, zooming the camera in and out, and moving the pieces into place, while the Nintendo controller is used to rotate. Video's after the break, but beware, the familiar strains of "Korobeiniki" have been replaced by smooth guitar jazz, so turn the volume up at your own risk.
Students use Wii Balance Board for kids' physical therapy system (video)
Nintendo's kid-tested, researcher-approved Wii Balance Board has struck at the heart of the medical supply industry yet again -- this time, the Bluetooth-connected scale is being used to help physically challenged children at Shriners Hospital in Houston. Seniors at Rice University hand-machined a set of force-sensitive parallel bars and programmed a monster-shooting game called Equilibrium to get kids excited about improving their walking gait, where they can play and score points with each proper step they take. The game automatically ratchets up the difficulty as patients improve, and handrails will play a part too, with a custom three-axis sensor box able to detect how much patients rely on the parallel bars (and dock points accordingly) in an effort to improve their posture. Yep, that sounds just a wee bit more useful than the Balance Board lie detector or the Wii Fit Roomba. Video after the break.
Nintendo Wii on sale at Toys R Us, Best Buy for $169.99
May 15th is still a month away, but the Nintendo Wii's price won't wait -- both Best Buy and Toys 'R' Us already have the motion-controlled console on sale for $170 today. Mind you, this doesn't look like a permanent price cut -- note "Limited Time Offer!" above -- but we wouldn't be surprised if other retailers follow suit in very short order. With rumors swirling around deeper price cuts and perhaps, maybe, possibly even a new backwards-compatible HD machine, every Wii sold at $170 today could be a little extra gold in their pockets and less unwanted inventory to deal with.
Wii HD rearing long-rumored head at E3 2011?
Another year, another chance for Nintendo to deliver what it's alternately denied and teased since day one -- a successor to the Nintendo Wii capable of displaying games in high resolution. Will Nintendo finally make it happen? Multiple totally anonymous sources say yes: they told Game Informer, IGN and Kotaku that just such a system will debut at E3 2011 in June, possibly with a teaser of some sort next month. While the ninja moles didn't provide many hard details -- mostly just the typical iffy claim that the system will wipe the floor with competitors in terms of speeds and feeds -- they told IGN that it will support 1080p resolutions and be backwards-compatible with games for the Wii. Naturally, we'll believe it when we see it... so here's hoping we see it fairly quickly. Update: Rumors are bursting out of the woodwork at this point, and we're going to refrain from posting them all here, but anonymous sources tell IGN and CVG that the new console might have controllers which double as the console's display -- each sporting a sizable screen.
Nintendo cutting Wii price to $150 on May 15th?
Nintendo's miniature white monolith has sold like gangbusters for long enough that we're wary it'll ever get cheap, but a trusted source tells us a price cut is indeed headed our way -- and that the Nintendo Wii will cost just $150 starting May 15th. The timing would make some sense, given how Nintendo's profits have tanked for a while due to flagging hardware sales, and just last month Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime hinted that the Wii's price might be a potential variable to change that in an interview with Gamasutra. Still, we're not fully convinced that Nintendo would announce a price cut then, rather than, say, at the Electronics Entertainment Expo in June, and it's not like the company to let this sort of announcement leak out. Still, if you find a shiny new copy of Mario Kart Wii in a $150 console bundle this time next month, don't say we didn't warn you.
Liquid-cooled Wii takes console mods to a ridiculous extreme
There are console mods and there are console mods... and then there's this -- a completely custom Nintendo Wii built from steel and cooled by two liquid-filled containers that would look more at home in a mad scientist's laboratory. Not surprisingly, this mod took a long time to complete. Bit-tech forum member Angel OD began the so-called "UNLimited Edition" project way back in December, 2009 and, after a few diversions, finally finished it this past weekend. Be sure to hit up the links below for a look at the complete build process, and a few more shots of the finished product.
Blaze's U-Move controls your Wii, makes you jog to play effectively (video)
Now that your Wii Balance Board is safely tucked underneath the couch and you've long ago discovered that every standard Nintendo title can be played with the flick of a wrist, you might be wondering how you'll ever convince yourself to exercise again. Well, there are certainly a few dangling-carrot solutions to your problem, and here's one that actually makes sense -- the Blaze U-Move, a Nunchuk replacement (with built-in pedometer) that effectively locks your joystick in place. The idea is that unless you're moving, your avatar can't move, and when you do, it can -- each time you jog in place, you're building up virtual momentum. That certainly sounds like a much more graceful and practical solution than others we've seen, which turn off the entire controller or (Miyamoto forbid) cut power to your entire game machine. This way, you can stop running when you need to do some precision aiming, and set your mind at ease regarding your save game. Yours for £20, or about $32 in US currency.
Wii Remote Plus joins Kinect and Vuzix shades for 2011's weirdest VR shooter yet (video)
The natural evolution to Nao_u's impressive Kinect- and Vuzix-infused already impressive virtual reality simulator? Guns, of course. A Wii Remote Plus has been added to his project, joining Microsoft's sensor and VR920 LCD glasses for a VR shooting game that involves, well, lobbing paintballs out of a P90 rifle towards flying disembodied anime characters. Make no mistake, it's a great technical demo chock full of aesthetic eccentricities. Full details via the developer's diary, video after the break.
Lag-free Wii on PSP episode II: Mario Kart strikes back
It looks like our favorite PSP Fanboy, Obiwan222222, is up to his old tricks once again, and his latest video shows that he has finally eliminated the lag problem that plagued his first attempt to play Wii on a PSP four years ago. Using a Wii emulator on a PC, some custom firmware, and a program called PSPDisplay, he has managed to stream video and sound to his PSP Go in real time. He also mapped the Wii controls (Wiimote waving excluded, we presume) to the handheld to complete the full Wii-on-PSP gameplaying experience. To see the slick mod in action, check the video after the break.
Gaming's first-person history lesson: 1958 to 2008 edition (video)
There's just so much to love about this video, described by co-creator Florian Smolka as a university video-project from Munich. In a little over four minutes, we're given a first-person tour of console gaming from 1958's Tennis for Two (played on an oscilloscope) through late 2008's Rock Band for Xbox 360 (using a Guitar Hero drum set, but hey, nobody's perfect). Not every console gets a mention -- apologies to Atari Jaguar and 3DO apologists -- and it unfortunately stops before new hotness Move and Kinect get a nod, but that should in no way deter you from setting aside a handful of minutes to watch. Be sure to note the passage of TVs, too, and remember fondly the CRTs of your youth. Unless you grew up with LCD flatscreens, you lawn-lounging whippersnapper, you. Video after the break.
Kinect hacked to work with Flash, Wiimotes, we can't imagine what's next (video)
It's safe to say that, on the console gaming front, the Wiimote and the Kinect are competitors. But, take a step away to the world of PC gaming, and suddenly they can get along like old chums. That's what's demonstrated in the video below, created by YouTuber demize2010, which shows Call of Duty controlled by Wiimote, Nunchuk, and Kinect, enabling reloads, knife attacks, and peeking around corners. But wait, there's more! The Blitz marketing agency has worked up a demo in which the Kinect can be used with a Flash interface, which doesn't look too dissimilar from what Microsoft uses on the Xbox. This could open the door to fancier websites -- if indeed any large number of PC owners ever actually wind up buying a Kinect. Both videos can be seen below.
Wii Laptop mod ditches the disc, gets ultra portable (video)
The famed Ben Heckendorn concocted the first Wii Laptop of note way back in 2007, but ever since, the modding community at large has been toiling away on ways to improve it. ShockSlayer, a member over at Mod Retro, has accomplished just that, with his predictably titled Wii Laptop relying on a 7-inch LCD, an integrated sensor bar, a couple of polycases and inbuilt speakers. There's hardly anything here that couldn't be found at your local Radio Shack, save for the SunDriver -- that particular product has enabled him to ditch the DVD drive and install a SATA HDD within. From there, he burned his Wii game discs and loaded 'em all inside, making the whole thing extra mobile. Oh, and did we mention that it's powered by rechargeable batteries? Because it is. Marvel at the completed device in the video after the break.
GameStop breaks out the bundles for Black Friday, but not the cream of the crop
GameStop's Black Friday ad leaked out a few days early, and there are some pretty decent deals if you're buying a new console -- each of Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo's systems come with pack-in games, and they're fairly good ones too. Still, the items your gadget-loving soulmate truly wants under the festive hearth are nowhere to be found in the ad -- so don't be surprised if you have to pay top dollar if you're planning on grabbing a commemorative red Wii, hacker-friendly Kinect or a PlayStation Move as part of your holiday haul.
id's Carmack talks Rage HD, iPad's power, and future iOS games
Rage HD for iOS is a seriously gorgeous game -- well worth the $2, if you ask us. Now that he can look up from his monitor, id Software's technical wizard John Carmack is making the interview rounds -- let's see what we can glean, shall we? On the subject of Rage itself, expect the first patch to add Game Center support as well as some bug fixes / minor tweaks to prettify the game further. And if you picked up the SD version, consider yourself among a more exclusive crowd: sales have been majorly lop-sided in favor of HD. "If it's that big of a difference," he told TUAW, "we probably won't offer the low-end, standard def version [in future games]." We already know Carmack's thoughts on the iPhone vs. Nintendo DS / PSP, as they've been echoed before once or twice, but here's one new to us: "You should be able to do something that's better on an iPad than anything that's done on the Wii," according to the John that spoke with Kotaku. That's all purely theoretical, as it's really up to the developer as to how much power it takes advantage of, and even with the tablet in question, "we're nowhere close to maxing out what could be done on an iPad." Oh, and Android? There's work being done for the Little Green Platform as well, but via TUAW John, "there's a lot of things with how the distribution platform works and the diversity of the platforms that you have to target, where things are still much, much nicer on the iOS world." As for id's next foray in the "iOS world," Joystiq learned that a driving game based in the Rage universe is in the cards, and perhaps something inspired by Quake Arena: "maybe focusing on the lightning gun, and call it 'Lightning Arena' or something, that would be a full roam-around FPS game." When asked about his resemblance to one Kevin Bacon, all reports indicate Carmack vanished behind a green-tinted smoke cloud of 1s and 0s, leaving in his wake a three-foot tall statue of Commander Keen made from old shareware discs.
Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime dishes cumulative sales numbers for current console generation
Rather like Nokia and its market share obsession, Nintendo just can't seem to stop talking about its hardware sales lead. The company's US chief, Reggie Fils-Aime, recently dished some NPD data detailing the specific advantage that the Wii has over its competitors in the US since the current console generation launched: Mario's team has managed to sell 30.4 million units of its hardware, followed by Microsoft's Xbox 360 at 21.9 million and Sony's PS3, which lags somewhere far behind with 13.5 million total sales. On the more mobile front, DS sales have ratcheted up to 43.1 million, more than doubling the PSP's 17.7 million shipments to the US of A. Nothing we haven't heard before, really, but it's always good to get a statistical update for the sake of keeping flamewars as informed as possible.
