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Wii Fanboy Poll: New Play Control!: too pricey, or just right?
Next month, Nintendo will debut its New Play Control! (or NEW PLAY CONTROL!) line of games in the west, beginning with Europe. Naturally, we really like the idea of great GameCube games with added 16:9 widescreen support and waggle-based controls, and it could be a licence to print money for Nintendo, if Mario Power Tennis' chart-topping debut in Japan is anything to go by.Will us westerners gobble up these repackaged games as keenly as Japanese gamers? It's likely to depend heavily on pricing -- the games look set to cost $30 in the U.S., and £30 in the UK. Is that too much, just the right amount, or too little (you maniac)?Have your say in our poll past the break!%Gallery-38147%
Rumor: Metroid Prime remake in Japan February 12?
According to Gamekyo, the Wii de Asobu/New Play Control remake of Retro Studios' Metroid Prime has been scheduled for release in Japan on February 12. We're not sure where they got that date, but it seems reasonable enough, given the biweekly releases so far in the series of Gamecube updates.While it will be interesting to see how the Japanese Wii audience reacts to Prime, this is most relevant to gamers outside of Japan due to the fact that the Pikmin and Mario Tennis remakes are expected to be out in North America and Europe in February and March, very soon after the releases of those two games in Japan. This means that we could possibly see Metroid Prime sometime in the first half of this year -- although Donkey Kong Jungle Beat came out in Japan before either of those others, and we haven't seen that one yet.
Nintendo serves up Mario Tennis trailers
Over at the official site for the Wii de Asobu (Play on Wii, or NEW PLAY CONTROL!) series, there's a pair of Japanese commercials for the Mario Power Tennis remake, as well as a far lengthier gameplay trailer.The adverts we can take or leave, consisting as they do of the usual telegenic Japanese families bouncing around their pristine living rooms. The gameplay clip is worth watching, as it displays the various shots that can be achieved through a well-timed flick of the wrist (top-spin, side-spin, slices, drop shots, etc.). We hope mixing up our shots actually has an effect on the game, because we always found Wii Sports tennis to be not-quite-as-advertised in this respect (though we're willing to accept we just may be rubbish at Wii Sports tennis).Oh yes, and these are non-embeddable, so you'll have to go to the site to watch them. And they call this 2009!Source: TV commercial 1Source: TV commercial 2Source: Gameplay trailer[Via NeoGAF]
Nintendo unleashes full Q1 schedule
Nintendo's carrier pigeon just landed on our windowsill with a complete list of Wii releases for Q1 2009. We do actually know most of these dates already (so yeah, maybe the mushroom cloud is a bit excessive), but there's still the occasional scrap of new news buried within.Those Tenchu and Little King's Story dates are fresh to us, and there's also confirmation of the first Play on Wii "New Play Control" games, Pikmin and Mario Power Tennis. For the record, "New Play Control" is a bit of a rubbish name for the series. In our humble opinion, obviously.Make the jump for the full line-up, and remember you can click on a game's name to bring up screens (where available)!%Gallery-22964%
Pikmin just got a little more perfect
It seems we were hasty when we wrote that the "Play on Wii" version of Pikmin would feature "no new content, the modified control scheme aside." The latest Famitsu, as translated by IGN, reveals that the game's save mechanism has also been updated, and now allows you to restart play from any day you please. So, if 98 of your 100 precious plant warriors get singed by a troublesome Fiery Blowhog, you can avert disaster by turning back time. Nice to see Nintendo adding some worthwhile changes to more and more Wii de Asobu titles!%Gallery-27598%
Play on Wii Donkey Kong has new stages, drastic changes
According to a Famitsu article translated by IGN, at least one game from Nintendo's forthcoming Play on Wii series will feature deeper modifications than slapped-on Wii controls. We've often questioned how well Donkey Kong Jungle Beat would work with the Wiimote and Nunchuk (given that the original game was played with plastic bongos), and Nintendo also seems unsure.Because of this, the remade Jungle Beat is being moulded into a more traditional platformer, with repositioned enemies, new mid-level checkpoints, and only a handful of motion-controlled moves (The nunchuk's analog stick moves Donkey Kong, and the A button makes him jump). Significantly, there will also be completely new stages, though Famitsu didn't reveal further details (such as how many). The remake of Pikmin, incidentally, will feature no new content, the modified control scheme aside.Can Jungle Beat work as a traditional platformer? We'll hold judgment on that, while noting that the DK Bongos played a major role in making the original game fun.
Point/Counterpoint: Yea or Nay -- Play on Wii?
At their October media summit, Nintendo announced plans to release Wii ports of some GameCube games as the Wii de Asobu (Play on Wii) series. Today, we found solid evidence of a North American release. While GameCube games are, of course, currently playable on Wii, these new ports will enable motion and pointer-based control schemes, allowing new players to use the "simpler" Wii controls, and existing fans to play favorites in a new way. At least, that's the idea, we think.But is it a good idea to port these games and try to sell them again? Is it good for the fans? For the games? For the Wii? For the win? We say yes! And also no. That's kind of how debating works! NEXT >> #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; }
Nintendo directs Pikmin remake to North America
Nintendo has published a list of Wii releases for 2009, and while it's some way from being a complete list, the news for North America ranges from great to ominous. We want to start this post on a happy note, so we'll begin by saying: the Play on Wii remake of Pikmin -- just the first game -- is totally coming to the U.S. The schedule also confirms the Mario Power Tennis remake for the States, so it looks like those two will lead the brand off here.But there's worrying news as well. For one, Disaster: Day of Crisis still isn't down for a North American release. Okay, so this isn't actually that surprising, as Reggie (who isn't the title's biggest fan, remember) has said all along that any U.S. release hinges on the performance of the game in Europe. As Disaster only came out in Europe last Friday, we still don't know how it fared, though will find out soon enough. Also missing are numerous Play on Wii remakes, including Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, Chibi-Robo, and the two Metroid Primes.We'll say this again, just in case: this is definitely a bare-bones list, with not every Wii release of next year featuring. We're not about to give up on getting Disaster just yet.[Via Siliconera]
'Play on Wii' Pikmin ports possibly US-bound
The ESRB's listings for Pikmin and Pikmin 2 have been updated: they haven't been re-rated AO due to recently-uncovered adult content or anything like that, but they're now listed for both GameCube and Wii! This makes it very likely that Nintendo of America is at least planning to release the ported 'Play on Wii' versions of those two games.None of the other Play on Wii games, including Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, Chibi-Robo, Mario Power Tennis, and Metroid Prime 1 and 2, are currently listed on the ESRB as Wii games. Chances are that the Pikmins are the ones most Nintendo fans were most interested in anyway. [Via OMGNintendo]
