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Crack that Whip -- Castlevania coming to Wii?
The Belmont family has been with us for quite some time now and fans are ready to see the series continue on next-gen systems. Who wouldn't want to crack a whip Wii style? In an interview at Leipzig, Koji Igarashi (aka IGA) mentioned the possibilities of a Castlevania game coming out on the Wii stating that he has a few ideas for it. This news came as a relief considering that he had snubbed the idea at E3 saying that a person can't "whip" for long periods of time. Maybe not but we are willing to kill our arm muscles to find out. [Thanks Andrew!]
Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy coming to Wii
Who would have thought that we would wake up to an image of the Grim's face from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy? Certainly not us. It was rather disturbing to our non-coffee eyes. On second thought, we are always happy to see more news about the Wii and games gracing the system with their presence. Midway had this to say: "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy for the Nintendo Wii is expected to utilize features that are unique to the Wii system. This includes use of the split controls, motion sensing and more. The Wii version is intended to support both the GameCube and Wii controllers. The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy on the Nintendo Wii is also expected to include content–specific gameplay features that will be available only on the Wii platform. More details on these features will be released at a later date." While we haven't really seen a whole lot of games stem from cartoons do really well in this industry, we know that the Wii offers a fair chance to every game to fully utilize its unique controls. Go Nintendo also has some screens for you to check out.
The winner of Leipzig? PSP
NOTE: This editorial is the opinion of Andrew Yoon, and does not represent the opinion of PSP Fanboy, Joystiq or Weblogs, Inc.Every video game convention, there's a "winner" of some sorts. It's pretty safe to say that the Nintendo Wii "won" the last E3, proving that waving around our hands can be fun. Not only did the Wii prove that the control scheme works, there was an amazing list of exclusives, from Nintendo's own Mario to third party efforts, like Red Steel. Nintendo wowed the crowd at E3 because of the amazing quality and potential of the games for its system.Did Nintendo pull the big win at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany this year? No. Did Microsoft? No. Sony took the win for this year's show, but not because of a great showing of PlayStation 3 goods (there were none at the show), but because of Konami's absolutely excellent lineup of upcoming PSP games. Yes, you heard me right: PSP "won" Leipzig.
Another analyst, another prediction... PS3 on top in 2011
Aw, man! Another analyst's prediction! Boston research firm Yankee Group has predicted that the PS3 will lead the pack in 2011, followed fairly closely by Microsoft and then the Wii taking up the far, far rear. Numerically, PS3 is expected to sell 30 million units, the 360 will sell 27 million, and the Wii shall sell 11 million units. These numbers are lower than usual predicted total sales because these next-gen consoles are a bit pricier (except the Wii, of course).The analysts did confirm that the 360 has a pretty fancy hold on the market right now and are in a good position to cut the price of their console by Spring of 2007. They also say Microsoft will probably continue this pricing pressure against Sony throughout the 360's and PS3's life cycle. What a bully, but, business is business. Speaking of pressures, the Yankee Group also noted that games will become a more popular distribution channel for advertisements and stuff. Many billboards in the less fictional games have been "sold" to companies for ads already -- will there be commercials during load screens? What could companies do to advertise to gamers other than having signs in games?
Wii rumor du jour: voice recognition
Take this one with the usual grain of salt, but the latest Wii rumor making the rounds is that the some Wii games will feature "advanced" voice recognition, adding a whole new way to make a fool of yourself while swinging a remote control around the room. The news comes from a so-called "trusted person" on IGN's Insider forums, who's apparently been spot on about Wii deets in the past. According to the source, the system converts speech to text that can be sent to other players, even detecting the tone, pitch, and volume of your voice and adjusting the font size and color accordingly. As you'd expect, much of the initial support will apparently come from first-party Nintendo titles, in particular those aimed at a younger audience. The source also says that the system will employ wireless head-mounted microphones, and drops one other interesting tidbit, saying that some Wii and DS peripherals will be compatible with each other. More on this as we get it, but somehow after everything Wii thus far we'd like to think this one might be workable.
Wii launch date/price rumors abound, Brazil deets set
We've heard enough Wii launch dates by now to fairly flesh out a fall calendar, but the rumors just keep coming. A pre-Thanksgiving launch in America is the only official word we've got to go on so far, but IGN is seeing all sorts of clues that point to an earlier release. For starters, lots of big-name publishers are promising Wii titles in mid-to-late October, and they're going to need a console to play on. Then there is the November 2 crowd and the November 12 types, which seem to be the main dates floating around currently, in spite of the fact that November 6th used to be a favored date, and we've heard things as wild as October and late September. All the same, most of IGN's sources seem to be settling on a $229 pricetag, with around five million units in black and white due to be available by the end of the year. The latest hard fact out of Nintendo on all this is that they're planning to release the Wii in Brazil the first week of December for 1,400–1,500 Brazilian reais (around $640–$690 USD). We're not sure if this is a slip by Nintendo's Latin American distributor, or just a clever ploy to throw us off the scent, but what we do know is that Nintendo will most likely announce launch deets before they release their console, so the window to take such an action is narrowing by the day!Read - IGN rumors on Wii releaseRead - Wii due in Latin America early December
CNET still not over it
And by "it", we of course refer to the cataclysmic tugging of the carpet that Nintendo so infamously performed when they quelled the Revolution (the what now?) and released the Wii. After Nintendo's powerful showing at E3, most people seem to have gotten used to saying the new name without breaking a sweat or breaking into laughter, content in knowing that the name means little in the face of a game like Super Mario Galaxy. The folks at CNET must not have played it, then.In their "Worst Tech of Q2 2006" article, CNET reserves the ninth spot for the Wii, awarding it with "Worst name change." Their justification is short, noting that "'Nintendo Revolution' sounds cool. 'Nintendo Wii' sounds dumb. That's about all there is to say." Well, fair enough ... coming from a website that sounds like something you catch fish with! ZING!On a more serious note, we also preferred the Revolution, but to put the name mame on the same list as Segway Polo and iPod imitations is just mean.[Via VGGEN, thanks AssemblyLineHuman!]
Just how many flaps does this thing have?
This is getting ridiculous. Just when we thought the mystery was solved and the conspiracy theorists were silenced, someone has to go and find another mystery flap on the Wii. What is it this time? A holographic laser cannon? An automagical DVD dongle? A nickel and dime slot for Virtual Console purchases? A scrumptious pancake maker? A completely fake photochopping attempt?We'll leave you free to speculate about its true, potentially evil purpose while we get back to eagerly pining for the flappin' games.[Via Joystiq]
The Wiimote as a Power Glove
From the hey, that's a great idea department comes a conceptual rendering of what it would be like to throw caution and embarrassment to the wind and strap a pair of wiimotes to your arms. The full ad depicts a guy with a Wii controller on each punch-capable limb next to some screenshots of the Xbox titles, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, Breakdown and Fight Night Round 3. The connection between dual wiielding action and Super Punch-Out should be obvious in your mind, though we recommend you swiftly move on to the conclusion we reached:Namco Bandai should port Breakdown to the Wii. Immediately. The game (which had a really fun story) was critically undone by unwieldy controls and unfair combat, problems that could very well disappear when given the opportunity to beat up those pesky T'lan warriors (or hallucinated cats) by flailing your own, more reliable fists. Oh, and let's not forget the joys associated with consuming magically restorative soda and protein bars. [Via 4cr. Kudos to zaiten.]
Footage of every Wii game at E3
Gameworld Network (which is either a network of gameworlds or a gameworld of networks) has posted an epic collection of streaming E3 videos which clearly depicts each and every playable Wii game and how exactly one has to swing, wave, shake, point, wiggle and/or jostle the Wiimote in order to play. Feel free to grab a nearby TV remote and mimic the action. Sure, you'll get absolutely no response, but in the case of Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, that's a pretty good approximation.[Via Infendo]
Iwata: Nintendo to intensify software development
Though we wouldn't normally pay much attention to something called a "Corporate Management Policy Briefing," we'll make an exception when it comes to Nintendo and their beloved Wii. Fielding some questions regarding the system's impending launch, Satoru Iwata attempted to assuage some concern over Nintendo's previous cubic console and its muted commercial success. He noted that Nintendo's inability to consistently and timeously release new games after launch stuttered the system's momentum, a problem which, if all goes to plan, won't rear its snarling head in the next round."To avoid repeating this with Wii, we have been intensifying the software development, both internally at Nintendo and at developers outside the company, in order to prepare aggressive software lineup for Wii at and after the launch." However, Shigeru Miyamoto (who admits to being occupied by a super secret project) added that Nintendo hasn't greatly increased the number of people working on projects, with over 1,500 people already banging keyboards and waving wiimotes in the hopes of generating more Nintendo classics. In that case, how exactly does Nintendo plan to intensify software development? If they have stricter management and curtailed development times in mind, how will that affect their forthcoming titles? Careful Nintendo -- striking the perfect balance between quantity and quality isn't going to be easy.[Update: See comments.]
A hint at some Wii power
Nintendo has been mum, more or less, as to the exact power and capabilities of their next console, Wii; however, slowly but surely, little hints are starting to drop in. The latest comes from Gamasutra, who report that electronics firm MoSys "will be using the company's patented 1T-SRAM technology to implement the high performance memory within the Wii's graphics system." Worth noting: "The newest 1T-SRAM implementations embedded within the Wii console are fabricated using NEC Electronics' advanced 90nm CMOS-compatible embedded DRAM process technology. These high speed and ultra low latency memories are used as the main embedded memory on the graphics chip and in an additional external memory chip."An official from MoSys goes on to say: "Designing the Wii console required an incredible list of breakthroughs in technology and innovation. ... The graphic performance of Wii benefits from MoSys' ability to develop highly innovative and dependable embedded memory products." Self promotion aside, it appears that Nintendo just may have a final ace up their sleeve as we come closer to seeing the final version of Wii.
Wii date and price by September
Speaking at a business briefing in Tokyo, Satoru Iwata has declared that our desperate and entirely unhealthy desire to learn the Wii's launch date and price will be satiated by September at the latest. Unless Nintendo's going for a cataclysmic surprise launch strategy (see: Sega Saturn), a release period of late October to early November seems to be a fair guess.And that's all it is -- a fair guess. As you are no doubt aware, the internet is a veritable minefield of launch dates leaked from top secret sources and overheard exchanges. Watch your step out there.
Sega unleashing Bleach on Wii
Honestly, we think we deserve some sort of prize for resisting the temptation to concoct a hilarious headline that involves the words "Bleach" and "Wii". Feel free to make your own--just be careful when you choose to inflict them upon us and the countless fans of the manga and anime series.Sega has unveiled a teaser website for a forthcoming Wii Bleach adaptation, though "teaser" may be somewhat of a strong word to apply to a single image and some cryptic text. We can only assume (and hope) that it promises a hyper-stylized, cel-shaded adventure with plenty of wiimote-waving swordplay. The Wii won't be a success until someone makes one of those, right?[Via 4cr, Thanks Hobbes!]
E3 game critics: Wii won
Short of having Satoru Iwata hurl bricks into the crowd at the Nintendo press conference, it seems that there was very little the Japanese giant could have done to disappoint the myriad E3 attendees, especially the overly critical ones. The Game Critics Awards, an independent group of journalists from 37 different media outlets, have deemed Nintendo's Wii Best of Show, praising its unique controller and "different" approach to gaming. Nintendo also grabbed the Best Hardware and Best Sports Game gongs, the latter one being awarded for the very energetic Wii Sports collection. Other big winners were Will Wright's Spore, Microsoft's Gears of War, Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed. The shockingly innovative PS3 controller was mysteriously overlooked.With the Wii receiving this sort of vindication, both as a concept and as a console, we hope that critics and gamers alike don't forget that, like any other system, the games are what will make or break it. The Wii was a success at E3 due to games like Super Mario Galaxy. Games like Final Furlong, on the other hand, remind us that the hardware alone, weird controller and all, can't guarantee an enjoyable experience.[Thanks AssemblyLineHuman!]
Sony's embarrassing E3 press conference
Despite having "Fanboy" displayed prominently all over the site, we generally try to avoid any of the negative connotations that usually go with the label. We're anxiously counting down the days minutes until Metal Gear Solid 4 is released, but we're also counting the money in our wallets. It doesn't add up to $600. This hilarious video, assembled from bits and pieces of Sony's E3 press conference, really illustrates how hyperbolic marketing and endless spin can quickly turn against you and reinforce your competitors. Had Sony just showed off a fine array of launch titles instead of trumpeting the arrival of their Blu-Ray trojan horse, they'd be in a much better position now.[via Digg]
Rumor: 16 titles at launch
There's a list of Wii launch games traveling through the myriad computers, routers, cables and robotic gnomes that comprise the Internet, though it mostly amounts to a bunch of good guesses as opposed to official confirmations. No doubt obtained from retailers and not publishers, the list suggests that the following games will be available when Nintendo unleashes their Wii: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Wii Sports Red Steel Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam Madden NFL 2007 Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz Metal Slug Anthology Trauma Center: Second Opinion Elebits Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Blitz: The League Rayman Raving Rabbids SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab Disney/Pixar's Cars Since most of these games were playable at E3, it's not too much of a stretch to think that they'd fall within the system's launch. However, this could be another case of that mysterious launch window marketing nonsense messing with our calendars and drawing a distinction between games that launch on day one and games that release shortly afterwards. Atlus told us specifically that Trauma Center: Second Opinion was a "launch window" game and if Activision is serious about Tony Hawk, Downhill Jam will be one too (because people, that game still needs a lot of work).
Iwata on PS3's DualShake: It won't affect us
Whether it's the backing of an unorthodox console or just the sight of an opponent stumbling over a price tag, Iwata exudes a good deal of confidence in the interview where he shrugs off the PS3's knee-jerk addition of motion sensing capabilities. Mr. Iwata points out that having to hold the DualShake with both hands makes for a noticeably different experience. "There's a huge gap between the two, I can tell you, with that whole experience, so I really don't think that the inclusion of motion sensing into Sony's classic type of controller can affect in one way or the other the advantage that we have with the Wii controller." Though gamers will be pointing and yelling "thief" for a while to come, Iwata's calm reaction is probably the best illustration of what's really happening here. The PS3 controller has an extra feature (at the expense of rumbling) that, judging by the games we've seen so far, is unlikely to become the primary form of input as it has with the Wii. The types of games on the two systems are thus likely to be different enough to dismiss any sort of suggestion that Sony is somehow stealing from and encroaching upon Nintendo's market. It's important to keep in mind that the functions of a controller, whether they be motion sensing or sensual massaging, are pretty worthless without games that make proper use of them. (That excludes the original Xbox controller. It made for an exceedingly effective blunt weapon.)
Site redesign: Perhaps you noticed
Well, it had to happen eventually. Like having a prized rattle torn away from the hands of a baby, we had to let go of "Revolution", Nintendo's codename for their next-generation console. As you might expect, there was plenty of kicking and screaming involved, but in the end, we all have to grow out of our comforts. We were happy with our joint E3 coverage with Joystiq and we hope to continue and improve upon our Wii content in the future (terrible Wii puns excluded). Watch out for some notable changes in the future, especially once the system launches and the news floodgates open. In the meantime, please continue to share with us your comments, rants and diabolical schemes. Thanks for reading Revo Wii Fanboy.
Wii will cost $200 say spectators
Nintendo Wii will launch at $200 in an attempt to undercut the competition, says an analyst at Merrill Lynch. An executive from SEGA goes further, suggesting that Wii will launch for under $200. This latest estimate sits in the middle of previous ones, but taken in the context of past console releases a $200 launch price wouldn't be out of character for Nintendo. The NES, SNES, Nintendo 64 and GameCube all launched at a price point of $200, so we wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo throws up their hands and says "why mess with tradition?"With the PS3's price confirmed, Nintendo's console is the last of the next-generation consoles to get a solid release price so it's natural that fans and analysts alike will continue the guessing game. As for the other type of price guessing game -- how much the Wii (PS3, Xbox 360) costs to make -- no-one has stepped up to the task just yet.[Via /.]
