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Reggie: Third-parties don't 'get' Wii [update]
The third-parties-on-Wii debate has raged for longer than we care to remember. In fact, we now counter accusations that the console lacks great third-party titles with the same, well-rehearsed response: "de Blob Zack & Wiki Resident Evil 4 World of Goo The Conduit No More Heroes Little King's Story Blast Works LostWinds Guitar Hero World Tour Okami Boom Blox Let's Tap Geometry Wars Muramasa Mega Man 9 Trauma Center." It's a bit lacking in coherency and punctuation, but people usually edge away when we shout it in their faces.Nintendo bossman Reggie Fils-Aime (who is earning a reputation for frankness) is the latest industry figure to question the Wii's third-party output, suggesting that third-parties don't yet understand the platform. He reckons people who purchase Wiis are interested in games that sell strongly on other systems, but that the quality is missing. "I will be able to say our licensees 'get it' when their very best content is on our platform," he told Forbes. "And with very few exceptions today, that's not the case."[Update: typo][Via Nintendo Everything]
Despite economy, gaming execs 'cautiously optimistic' about holiday sales
The gift of gaming may prove to be stronger than the current economic woes that plague the United States. Gaming executives spoke during the recent BMO Capital Markets conference, with even Nintendo's own Reggie Fils-Aime tossing his two cents into the mix, with each stating that they were generally optimistic about this holiday season."If I look at this from an industry perspective I think cautiously optimistic is quite appropriate," Fils-Aime told Reuters. "If I look at it from a Nintendo perspective, I would say very optimistic." With Wii Fit, as well as the popularity of the Wii itself, we'd say Nintendo has nothing to worry about. But, with the way things are, third-party publishers could have a tough time selling their Wii titles this holiday. What do you all think?
Reggie praises Wii Fit longevity at investors' conference
Reggie Fils-Aime gave a presentation at yesterday's BMO Capital Markets Interactive Entertainment Conference in which he claimed that "passive entertainment" was on the way out as interactive media and user-created content become more popular. Within his particular area of interactive media, video games, Reggie described Nintendo's singular focus on expanding the market rather than expanding the technological capabilities of the system. He then went on to extol the success of their strategy, focusing on mass-market titles like Wii Fit, which Fils-Aime described as "evergreen," having already made greater revenue than Grand Theft Auto IV (on either the PS3 or 360, not both). "Wider appeal can also translate to longer appeal and maybe even to better appeal," Fils-Aime said.%Gallery-4745%
Say what you think: Reggie lays into Disaster: Day of Crisis
If you thought our 7/10 review for Disaster: Day of Crisis was harsh, you should hear what Reggie Fils-Aime -- yeah, that Reggie Fils-Aime -- thinks about it. Twenty-five minutes into IGN's latest Nintendo Voice Chat podcast, Matt Casamassina revealed how Reggie "doesn't think Disaster is a $50 game," and regards the audio as "laughable." Burrrrn.We have to confess we're slightly dumbfounded to hear Reggie delivering such a hefty haymaker to one of his company's own games ... while speaking on the record, as well. We suppose it's, uh, refreshingly honest?%Gallery-30942%[Via Infendo]
Reggie: Wii production up; holiday supply might not meet demand ... again
So sayeth the immortal Pete Burns, "You spin me right round baby, right now, like a record baby, round, round, round, round." In an interview with Los Angeles Times, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime has hinted that, yet again, the supply for the Nintendo Wii might not meet the demand this holiday. The Regginator (a nickname noted in the article) said that production is up 33% over last year, from 1.6 million consoles per month to 2.4 million. We've talked about Wii shortages once or twice before. "One of our competitors' projects," he said (we're thinking he meant Sony), "they will sell 10 million consoles worldwide this year. For us, that's three months of production." By his numbers, it would actually be closer to four months, but when you're dealing with multiples of infinity all day long, math tends to get a little fuzzy. We still find it hard to believe that there's still potential shortages after 708 days, but the sales numbers seem to suggest scholars will need to create a new number system for sales calculations.
Reggie talks MotionPlus timing, avoids Wii HD
Thanks to the journalizing of one Dean Takahashi, we may finally have an answer to one of our favorite questions: Why wasn't the Wii MotionPlus, the thing that makes the Wiimote work the way you thought it would before you bought it, included when the system launched? According to Reggie Fils-Amie (and this should come as no surprise) Nintendo was aware of the tech when it was putting the Wii together, but deemed the price "too high" at the time. Now that it's cheaper, it's bringing it to the masses.What Reggie won't discuss is when the next Wii will go public, calling rumors of a 2011 release "pure rumor and speculation." Meaning: The release of Nintendo's new console is completely dependent on Shigeru Miyamoto lowering his crystalline hovercastle from Planet Flowerkiss and dropping it off ... and it's not like he ever calls first.
Playing invisible instruments more complex than you think
That's according to Reggie Fils-Aime, at least. The Nintendo bossman thinks that his company did Wii Music a big disservice when it was displayed at E3, and feels the game is a lot more complex than people realize.In fact, Reggie believes that Wii Music, like all the best music games, will be simple to pick up, but a tricky beast to master. "We may have done that title an injustice at E3 by showing something that looked so easy," stated Fils-Aime to technology and media site Venturebeat. "Now we're showing the tremendous variety of instruments and tones and how challenging it is to make music that sounds good." Reggie also revealed that Nintendo expects Wii Music to become one of the "top sellers" on the system. We can totally believe that, but "challenging"? Really? We don't want to jump conclusions without a few major Wii Music sessions, but these assertions do seem to go against the evidence we've seen so far.%Gallery-27713%[Via Eurogamer]
Reggie explains Mario and Zelda teams are working on new games
During an interview with G4, Nintendo's ass-kicking, name-taking pres Reggie Fils-Aime talked about all things Nintendo. Most of the interview focuses on DSi-related stuff, but he does take a second to discuss what the Mario and Zelda teams are up to. What are they up to? More Zelda and Mario, of course! And while we already knew this back at E3, it's nice to hear it reiterated.Head past the break for the 10 minute-long video interview with Reggie.
Miyamoto and Reggie talk storage solutions, peripherals
In a recent Club Nintendo interview, Reggie Fils-Aime and Shigeru Miyamoto both touched on some important things on the mind of all Wii owners. The first thing that many are still asking about is the lack of a hard drive. Well, Miyamoto commented that the company is still working on it and exploring all of the possible technologies, to which Reggie added that the company hasn't specified a traditional hard drive or another kind of storage, but will create a solution that is "better than what we have now."Miyamoto was also asked about MotionPlus and incorporating it into future Zelda games. Miyamoto said that Nintendo was working on a new Zelda game (and also Pikmin), but would not comment as to each title supporting Waggle 2.0. He also commented that we shouldn't expect any new peripherals any time soon, seeing as how there are so many available for the Wii now. We're glad for that, because our limited closet space has meant that storing them all has been a big hassle.So, the biggest thing to come out of this piece for Club Nintendo is more of the hard drive talk, although we guess we can't call it that, since Nintendo may want something different than a traditional hard drive. What other kind of technologies could they mean? What could be a comparable storage solution to a hard drive and yet not be a hard drive?
Reggie: Wii storage is a 'mainstream' problem
Reggie recently sat down for a little chat with Stephen Totilo from MTV Multiplayer to discuss what's on everyone's mind. No, not the company's showing at E3, but rather the storage issues of the console.He said that "from an Americas-centric perspective," the Wii's storage limitations are becoming a "mainstream" problem. Again, he reiterates that the company is working on a solution, but isn't ready to reveal any specifics yet. Seriously, Nintendo, how long are you going to wait? Each week, more Virtual Console and WiiWare content releases and gamers can't download because they have no space![Thanks, il_duce620!]
Reggie totally cool with a GTA on the Wii
With Chinatown Wars on the way to the DS real soon, it's abundantly clear that Nintendo has no qualms about releasing a Grand Theft Auto game on their hardware. The next question is obvious: will we see GTA on the Wii? Speaking to MTV, Reggie had an answer for that -- maybe. Lay it out straight for us, home boy.The fact is, it's not really in Nintendo's "power" to simply rock up and demand Take Two and Rockstar get working on waggling with hookers. Reggie simply said a Wii installment "is all based on what Rockstar and Take Two want to do." If they want to go ahead with it, Reggie won;t have a problem, saying "if they build a bottoms-up game that takes advantage of what we do well, I'd love to see it on the platform."We would love to see it on the platform too. Please?
Keighley walks a fine line with Reggie, Dunaway defends herself
Geoff Keighley, you have bigger stones than us. The GameTrailers TV presenter grabbed super-sized Nintendo executive Reggie Fils-Aime immediately after he left stage at Nintendo's infamous E3 2008 keynote, and subsequently gave him a grilling that Paxman would be proud of.While Reggie was mostly gracious about Keighley's constant enquiries into the new Mario and Zelda titles, he did show the odd sign of irritation, at one point protesting, "Geoff, you keep trying to date me, you know. My girlfriend's going to get upset. You keep trying to date me. You can't do that." Protip, Geoff: when the vein starts bulging in the side of Reggie's head, that's the time to stop asking about Mario and Zelda.In a totally different interview, Reggie's conference co-presenter Cammie "Smiler" Dunaway has defended herself from (rather absurd, if you ask us) accusations that she was feigning enthusiasm during Nintendo's keynote. "Tell your blog that I'm really a genuinely smiley, nice person," she instructed Wired's Chris Kohler. "Because people think I'm fake, smiling up there. I'm just not! It's just me! I am who I am."Ah, the hard-hitting drama of the post-E3 analysis![Reggie carefully concealing his annoyance here, via videogaming247][Cammie Dunaway defending her right to smile here]
E308: Reggie baffled by outcry over conference
So it seems a good portion of the internets didn't like Nintendo's E3 2008 press conference, with many accusing the company of forgetting "core" gamers, whoever they're supposed to be. The negative response from the online community quickly got back to bossman Reggie Fils-Aime, who immediately announced a new Zelda game admitted that he couldn't understand the fuss.As Sir Reginald of Fils-Aime sees it, Animal Crossing: City Folk on the Wii ("the Animal Crossing that people wanted") and Grand Theft Auto on the DS are exactly the kind of thing "core" gamers would want, and reminded us that the Mario and Zelda folks were hard at work. "How could you feel left out?" he exclaimed to G4.Over to you, good reader.
E308: Nintendo keynote photo tour
Click to start the tour So, we've had tons of content up for you all yesterday, because that's how we roll and we'll be damned if The Man is going to stop us! For those of you hungry for more, know that we're going to continue the flood of content, but we've also got a huge photo dump from the Nintendo E3 keynote for you. Within, you'll find all of our pics from the luxurious seats found in row 12. Missed some of the bits about how well the DS is selling? We got it in images. Want to see Shaun White's hideous Mii? We got you covered. Check it all out in our gallery below.%Gallery-27788%
Wii Warm Up: Give us your three cents about E3
You've read the drunken ramblings of the Fanboy team as they stumbled through the revelations of the Nintendo press conference. Now it's time to have your say, and let us know just how impressive the lineup of presentations was. Is Cammie a decent enough public speaker with the whole world watching? Will Wii Music stink out concert halls worldwide, or receive a standing ovation? Is Iwata cooler than you? Absolutely.Go on, Nintendo can take your punishment. If you hated it, let fly with reasons why. If you loved it, gush about your favorite game (aside from the default selection of Animal Crossing). All in all, was E3 2008 a success or a blunder for Nintendo? You decide.
E308 Reminder: Nintendo press conference today
Are you ready for some Nintendo megatons? Today at 9am PT (that's 12pm for all of you on the east coast), Nintendo will be conducting their annual E3 keynote, which is sure to be home to some interesting content. Also, we think Reggie will take some names. He may also kick some ass. You'll have the keynote available to you in two flavors. For one, you can get the usual liveblog goodness from Joystiq, but on top of that, we have our own special little something something planned. We'll be conducting a live chat thing to go along side of that, hopefully providing you all with oodles and oodles of content you'll love us forever for. Or, you know, just tolerate.So, be here at 9am PT and don't forget those bingo cards!
E308 reminder: Nintendo conference incoming!
Just a reminder: at 9AM Pacific time, Nintendo's E3 press conference will begin. Who knows what will be announced, revealed, kicked, or taken? All we know is that there will be a long line, then some intro stuff, then megatons.We'll be in ur conference talking about ur news in an exciting real-time chat. Joystiq will be liveblogging the event as well, so you can enjoy two-fisted news-reading! Or something. And in case you don't have enough tabs open, why not play Nintendo Conference: The Home Game? Otherwise known as bingo.
Speakers for tomorrow's Nintendo press conference revealed
Proving that no bit of news is to trivial for E3, Computer and Video Games presents (via a Nintendo press release) a list of the presenters planned for tomorrow's Nintendo press conference. They are: Nintendo Co Ltd. President Satoru Iwata Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime Designer/producer/supervisor/god Shigeru Miyamoto NOA Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Cammie Dunaway NOA Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Affairs Denise Kaigler Exciting, no? Really, there's nothing especially revelatory about this list of speakers. The question remains though, what will they all speak about? We'll find out tomorrow morning at 9 AM Pacific. Until then, of course, rampant speculation is welcome using the comments link below.
Nintendo says core gamers will get new titles at E3
According to an article over at Gamepro, core gamers shouldn't fret going into E3 this year. Even though Nintendo just unleashed Wii Fit on us, the focus for their newest console isn't going to be entirely casual. "We recently announced the upcoming release of Mario Super Sluggers," said Marc Franklin, director of public relations at Nintendo, to Gamepro. "Additionally, we will be announcing several new titles that core gamers will be interested in around the time of E3."This is likely to be music to the ears of fanboys who've wondered where stellar-looking titles such as Disaster: Day of Crisis have been for their beloved console. But, this goes against what Reggie said, in a good way. Where the resident ass-kicker, name-taker said we should expect one big title from Nintendo at E3, we're liking the idea of "several new titles" that Franklin said. Let's hope we get a bunch of new games next month when the show goes down![Thanks, Sonic_13!]
Expect a new game with new characters from Nintendo at E3?
GamePro thinks so, as one of its editors piped up during a recent piece run on the magazine's website. "I've heard strong rumors that Nintendo is going to unveil an all-new game with all-new characters," said senior GamePro editor Sid Shuman. A new game with new characters? Do tell!With Wii Fit come and gone, as well as Mario Kart Wii and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, we think we've been patient enough. We have yet to hear about a big first-party title coming from Nintendo and we're really getting anxious for something big over here. But, as Reggie said, all will be revealed shortly. We guess we can wait a little bit longer ...
