FilsAime
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Dual GamePad support won't be coming to Nintendo Wii U until 'well after launch'
Contrary to what we'd heard, it seems as if you and your friends won't be able to enjoy some of that dual GamePad play on Nintendo's upcoming Wii U -- at least not until some time after the novel gaming console launches later "this holiday." During an interview with Gamasutra, Reggie Fils-Aime (Nintendo of America President) said, "Games need to be built that can take advantage of the two GamePad controllers" and that "it's going to be well after launch for those game experiences to come to life." According to Fils-Aine, developers will have to first place all their focus on "asymetric gameplay," before eventually adding support for two GamePads on their titles. Notably, the revelation comes shortly after he himself confirmed the Wii U GamePad won't be featuring any multi-touch capabilities. Not all is lost, however, you'll just have to wait it out a little longer than expected, or make due with one of those Wii remotes you have laying around in the meantime.
Nintendo 3DS will launch 'in all major markets' by March 2011, design still being tweaked
When Nintendo of Japan first announced the 3DS (think: way back in March), it promised a release of the portable by the fiscal year ending March 2011. Given the DS and DSi's six-month global rollout window, however, we weren't sure if that applied to the world or just the company's backyard -- sure, we've heard rumors of a UK release in October, but nothing's been confirmed. Cue Nintendo of America's president Reggie Fils-Aime to give a definitive answer: "The one thing, for sure, is that we will launch in all of our major markets by March 31, 2011." Well, that about settles it in our mind. Fils-Aime also clarifies that what we saw on the floor is not the final design -- something that was mentioned during the press conference -- but we wouldn't expect anything more than slightly altered button placement (for its part, the official site lists "look," battery, pre-installed software, and supported languages as TBA). But hey, if you want to believe a third screen is possible, don't let us stop you from dreaming.
GameDaily 'Persons of the Year': #1 - 3 and readers' choice
GameDaily concluded its "Persons of the Year" feature today by announcing Nintendo America's COO Reggie Fils-Aime took the top spot; Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb took the readers' choice award. Fils-Aime bested Activision CEO Bobby Kotick (#2) and Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos (#3) because of the Wii's phenomenal success in the States. GameDaily had previously announced #4 and #5, which went to Aaron Greenberg and Jeff Gerstmann respectively.Major Nelson -- guru of Xbox -- received the readers' choice award after politely directing his loyal readership to GameDaily's website. Before Major Nelson stepped up his campaign, Assassin's Creed producer Jade Raymond was in the lead. Too bad Raymond didn't win though, GameDaily ended up having "Men of the Year" awards rather than "Persons of the Year."Read -- 2007 Persons of the Year #1Read -- Persons of the Year: Readers' Choice Unveiled
NOA's Reggie Fils-Aime talks Manhunt 2, AO titles
Talking with Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime about WiiWare, Newsweek's N'Gai Croal used the opportunity to bring up Nintendo's stance on games rated Adults Only by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, first in relation to their "hands-off" approach to the download service and then with the recent Manhunt 2.Fils-Aime makes the company's stance with the ESRB very clear: no AO-rated titles. "This is not an image issue, Wii welcomes games rated E, T and M," he said, adding that he doubts Nintendo will ever approve an AO-rated title.Concerning Manhunt 2, Fils-aime said that, "What Rockstar has right now is a game rated outside our spectrum, outside any manufacturer's spectrum," and asserted that they are still interested in releasing the game if it receives a Mature rating.
Metroid Prime 3 not shipping before July
In a recent interview with Newsweek, Reggie Fils-Aime revealed that he likes ponies Metroid Prime 3: Corruption would not be shipping before July. This is hardly a surprise, as we expect Nintendo to hype the heck out of what will surely be the first killer-app FPS on the console, but we find it slightly disappointing nevertheless.More disturbing, however, is the concept of the "Big Three" (Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl) all supposedly being released in 2007. Realistically, one of these three will be pushed back (most likely Brawl, since Prime is extremely far into development and Shigeru Miyamoto recently reconfirmed a 2007 release for Galaxy), but with nothing coming before July, will Nintendo risk putting even two of its heavy hitters in close proximity to one another? Nintendo could get away with only one release, provided certain games are released as scheduled, but the prospects are disturbing.
More Times Square silliness
As sort-of promised, we've got some more coverage for you. After meeting up with various head honchos of the geeky online blog community (Christopher Grant, Andrew Yoon, Raw Meat Cowboy from GoNintendo, Chris from Advanced Media Network, I'm talking to you), the "festivities" started. They opened with a rather lackluster performed by someone named "DJ Ravidrums", who was essentially a drummer playing along to some prerecorded music. Bah. But then ... wait! It's friggin' Reggie!This man should have received a deafening applause. Eardrum-destroying. And truth be told, it wasn't bad. But Nintendo made the mistake of setting up the stage on a side-street, in which there was no way anyone standing in line could watch. As such, the viewers of the event were curious bystanders and members of the media, such as myself. Can you imagine this sad scene?"Hey, guys, it's great to be here. You can fill in the blanks, right? My name is Reggie, and I'm about ...!"Only around nine or so people shouted the obvious answer, including myself. How horrible.Still, the speech he gave was decent, and the rest of the stage performance consisted of some TRL/Miss USA woman and more of that weird drumming guy. Exit, stage left.Where to now, we asked ourselves? Well, let's check out the Wii display upstairs and then HOLY CRAP it's Reggie again! Yes, the Regginator was giving yet another interview for a major station (don't ask, we don't know), and right afterward, a few well-informed fans ran up to him to get their DS Lites signed. He was busy, he was in a rush, but Nintendo Wii Fanboy was able to edge in one question! And here it is."Reggie. Honestly, and PR spin aside, do you truly believe that the Wii is going to take first place in sales in the next generation against the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360?"A slight pause. He turns to stare me down."Absolutely. There's no doubt in my mind. We're offering what gamers want, and they're going to love it."Hear that? It's the sound of oh snap.And by the way, that man's handshake is a vice of absolute death.
