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US Nintendo press coverage not-so-live [update 9]
Joystiq has a man on the ground in NYC, on-hand during the madness now taking place. He is relaying information, much-needed information, from the press event and we're going to leech said info in the most ridiculous way possible. Keep your eye here as we transport the info over from Joystiq with care. Other sites such as Engadget are also covering the event.The news so far is after the break.
MCV speculates on UK Wii date, price
British trade weekly MCV is reporting this morning that the Wii will go on sale "shortly before Friday November 24th" for a price of £149 in the UK. However, Nintendo UK boss David Yarnton responded in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz that the story is "not far off, but they're definitely not right."What to believe? MCV doesn't cite any sources for its information, but Managing Editor Lisa Foster told CVG that she is "very confident about the story, especially the price and that Nintendo Wii will launch in the week ending November 24." The publication does have a track record of breaking big industry news before it is officially announced, recently being among the first publications to break word of E3's downsizing. We'll know for sure whether their reputation holds up when Nintendo releases official word on the date and pricing, likely to come a week from now at a planned European press conference.The MCV article also assures Europeans that system availability will not be an issue, with "senior industry sources" reporting "plentiful supplies anticipated for both the November launch and the Christmas run-in."[Thanks, Tom G]
More release date and price speculation
At this point, it kills us to report on these speculatory meanderings other news outlets conduct, claiming they know when the console is going to release. However tired as we may be, we must bring forth to you fine reader everything about this console we all love so. For love (we really do love you and often imagine sitting up with you, just talking, until the sun rises), we labor on!You know, Matt over at IGN isn't such a horrible source though. Usually he isn't so far off from the truth as to be on a separate measuring instrument altogether, so we consider that with his proposal for a November 2nd or 12th release date. We also consider it when reading his proposed $229 US price tag with selection of white or black console. Matt also goes on to say that Nintendo has ramped up production on their console to reach 5 million units of hardware by the end of the year. Now that figure, well...it's staggering. We're not too sure we can totally believe that one.Take the information as you will and do make sure you let us know where you want to go on that date.[Thanks Ryoma!]
More evidence of an October release?
We're starting to seriously think the Wii will launch in October. Now enter a bold Joystiq informant who relayed a listing to Joystiq that told of a couple leaked Activision release dates for Wii titles. The listing, which is pictured above, shows Tony Hawk Downhill Jam with an October release date and Call of Duty 3, along with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, having a release date of November. This image was hastily changed and the informant's inbox was on the receiving end of a revised listing that merely stated these games of having a release date of "Upon Wii launch." Interesting...Joystiq was able to ascertain that the individual responsible for altering the listings was a part of Activision's international media relations team. Considering that Activision is one of the few third-party publishers in full support of the Wii, the idea of them knowing the final release date is not all that far-fetched.
October 2nd to be the release date?
We've already reported on Nintendo's ability to be jerks, so why would we return to such a fresh and extremely painful topic? Release date speculation, of course! The guys (and gals) over at Gaming Target took it upon themselves to take this latest press release, by command of Nintendo, under a magnifying glass and analyze the dates, coming up with the idea that October 2nd will see the launch of the Wii. Their logic breaks down like this: "The fourth quarter begins on October 1. Now look at the list. At least one game is released every Monday in the fourth quarter except for the following dates: October 2, November 20 and November 27. November 27 is after Black Friday, so it's out. November 20 is after the launch of the PS3, so that's out too. That leaves us with October 2."Well, OK, not a bad theory, but why wouldn't, or couldn't, the console launch alongside any of the DS games to be released? Why couldn't the console launch on October 23rd? Personally, we'd like to see it launch October 2nd, which would provide ample time for shoppers to get one and prevent those pesky holiday shortage disasters we've seen during past launches. [Via Joystiq]
John Woo's Stranglehold set for launch
If there's one game that will excite you in the right places for the PS3, you can count on it being John Woo Presents Stranglehold. Inspector Tequila (starring Chow Yun-Fat) will jump, spin, kick and shoot your socks off in this "loose followup" to the Hard Boiled series.So here's some good news: PlayStation 3 fans can expect this title on launch day. Come November 17th, it will invade shelves along with the new console. Still no official word on the Xbox 360 or PC release dates, but we're sure you can come up with a reasonable guess.
$40 XBL Vision camera & UNO bundle detailed by MS source along with prices & dates for other 360 accessories
Our friendly anonymous source at Microsoft has provided us with a few more details concerning the 360 accessories announced back at E3.Perhaps the most important involves the bundling of the Xbox Live Vision camera with a wired headset, the popular Live Arcade title UNO, and a month of Live Gold service for $39.99 when it releases in the States on September 19, 2006.Granted, this is still an unofficial report (based on a leak of "official" info), so understand that you're probably not gonna get much confirmation from MS until they're good and ready to give it. If you'd like information on what other peripherals are coming out "Holiday 2006" (so sometime in the 4th quarter) and at what price, read on for more.
DS Lite street date disregarded [Update 1]
Seems some brick and mortar retailers are violating the DS Lite street date. The pictured unit was picked up by CAG moderator Trakan at his local Target, which he claims had a large display case full of the sleek dual screens. I'll be trekking out into the world shortly to check my local Walmart, Target, and Best Buy, which are luckily all right next to each other on the same street. I'll update later with my findings, but in the mean time, any of you fine readers manage to get a street-date-violated DS Lite?[Via Joystiq][Update: If you locate a DS Lite, be sure to add the offending store to this Flickr Frappr map. Thanks Jake!]
Rumor: DS Lite in Europe on June 23rd
According to news site Puissance Nintendo's anonymous sources, the DS Lite will be releasing in Europe on June 23rd for a price of 149 Euros. Considering that Nintendo Europe has yet to comment on this latest rumor and that the US release of the console is a little under 2 weeks before this proposed date, we're very skeptical, but understand that those of you in the Old World left in the dark are dying for any word of when you'll be able to procure one of those sexy Ds Lites. For those of you who can't read French, try Babel Fish.[Thanks VoiceofPower!]
