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Pikmin to be remade on Wii, first of 'GameCube masterpiece' series
Nintendo has announced that it will be releasing "Wii de Asobu" (Play on Wii) Selections, GameCube titles remade for the Wii. Not including last year's Resident Evil 4 remake, President Satoru Iwata revealed at today's Japanese press conference that Pikmin will be the first title to receive a Wii makeover. We're really hoping this isn't the Pikmin title Miyamoto revealed at E3. [Via NWF]
Animal Crossing boxart warms our cold, cold hearts
Just as Animal Crossing: City Folk won't be abandoning the series' trademark graphics, so the boxart is exactly what you'd expect: a bright, bustling village scene featuring fresh fruit, happy animals, KK strumming out a tune beneath a tree, and Tom Nook waiting to rake in your Bells. A lot of those villagers look familiar to! While a lot of traditional elements are on display, there is a hint of the fresh possibilities afforded by the titular city, and a bright yellow bus to transport us there. Ah, we're excited already! Do you approve, dear reader? %Gallery-27704% [Via Go Nintendo] KK says: buy Animal Crossing: City Folk to visit the city, reach out to friends, and make Iwata cry!
Battlestar Galactica cast joins Animal Crossing
We believe it was Rob Zombie's kid brother Spider One who said "One by one they will be hand chosen, now this is what it's like when worlds collide." Could Spider have actually been peering into the future to write about LesbianGeek's labor of love that plops the Battlestar Galactica universe squarely into Animal Crossing Wild World. A geekgasm, you say? Too early in the morning for something as nerdtastic as watching Starbuck and Season 3 mustache-enabled Adama pose with their Tom Nook-brand goods? Maybe. But it's Friday, so we're living out here on the edge.
Nintendo Wii E3 2008 screenshot roundup
Well, at least grammy's pleased with Nintendo's first party lineup... (Plus: If you've got a longer attention span than Nintendo, we've got shots of two overlooked titles after the break!) %Gallery-27738% %Gallery-27739% %Gallery-27741%
Nintendo introduces the Wii Speak community microphone
During their announcement of Animal Crossing: City Folk at E3, Nintendo announced a new "community microphone" called WiiSpeak -- from the look of it, it sits on your television right on top of the sensor bar, and Nintendo says it'll let you speak with other players around the world. Here's hoping they enable other online activity with the microphone as well. Finally, some Mario Kart voice chat? Yes please!
Animal Crossing: City Folk coming to Wii in 2008
At Nintendo's E3 press conference this morning, the company announced Animal Crossing: City Folk, a new game in the series that will have graphics similar to those of the GameCube version. The game will use the Wii Message Board to allow players to send messages to friends and allow players to put on masks to look like their Miis. It will also support a new community microphone option known as WiiSpeak that will allow you to talk directly to other players around the world. More details as we get them.
Metareview (US Edition) -- Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
Yes, Europe. It's shocking, but Mario Kart Wii comes out in North America tomorrow. But, y'all are probably over the latest real kart simulator and have moved on to enjoying Wii Fit. The continent where the history comes from already reviewed Mario Kart Wii many moons ago and rated it a perfectly competent experience. What do the American outlets think? Pretty much the same thing. IGN (85/100): "Every player is going to have their own love/hate relationship with Mario Kart Wii, but in the end the game does so many things right that it'd be foolish not to give credit where due. Online seriously raises the bar for Nintendo, trumping even Smash in a big, big way. ... It isn't the best Mario Kart in the series, but it's a must-play experience on Wii, and standard-setting offering as far as online, channel support, and connectivity are concerned. Now if you'll excuse us, we've got some online stats to obsess over. " GameTrailers (84/100): "Generally, video game franchises move forward with each successive release. In this case, Mario Kart for the Wii has taken a few steps forward, and one huge step back. This is the first case of Nintendo not finding a happy medium between accessibility and servicing hardcore players. Yet if you get a group of people together on a Saturday night to play you'll be the only one complaining. While the competitive spirit may be quelled, there's no denying that the foundation here is solid, and the addition of bikes, tricks, and online play are all positives that no one can deny." GameTap (80/100): "Mario Kart makes a good case for connecting the Wii online, too. Via the Mario Kart Channel, you race other gamers from around the world in an eight-driver contest; you can even see which countries they represent. This is the way to go for multiplayer karting. ... But online or off, you can't go wrong with Mario Kart. If this is your first experience or you've been absent for a while you're in for a treat. If you're a grizzled MK vet at least you can pit your skills with racers around the world--and still have something to grumble about. " %Gallery-16165% Need a Kart fix? Check out all our coverage of Mario Kart Wii!
Want to hear every K.K. Slider song?
At once? Then click the play button on the video above. But, be warned that this is ... well, it's weird. Frankly, we don't understand why someone would do this. Sure, we want to hear every K.K. Slider song too, but we don't want to listen to them all at once. [Via Go Nintendo]
Mario Kart Wii supports 8-player battle mode
Twelve players might be a nice round number for straight-out races, but we've still been waiting patiently to see how many online opponents Nintendo will allow us in Mario Kart Wii's version of the classic battle modes. Jeux France reports that eight players will be able to duke it out in the game's battle modes. To arrive at the magic number yourself, check out the radar in the lower-right of the above picture. Eight icons are clearly visible, making for ample amounts of balloons to burst, and stars to steal. We're sad that twelve-player support isn't possible in the battle mode, but we'll definitely take what we can get. [Via Wii Fanboy] %Gallery-16165%
Animal Crossing and Kirby coming to Japanese Wii in '08
According to Nintendo financial documents, "social networking MMO" Animal Crossing and a new Kirby title will hit the Japanese Wii this year, along with some other notable titles. ShackNews posted the Nintendo financial docs showing that beyond Animal Crossing and Kirby, there is also Wii Music, Disaster: Day of Crisis, Super Mario Stadium Family Baseball, and Everyone's Common Knowledge Television -- that last one sounds like it might stay in Japan. The document also shows that Mario Kart Wii is still expected for the spring in North America and Q2 for Europe, but there isn't much more beyond that at this time. That doesn't mean Nintendo doesn't have something up its sleeve, just that it isn't on this financial document from Nintendo Japan.
simExhange: Wii Play will be top selling 'software' during Wii's lifetime
Analyst Jesse Divnich of prediction market simExchange projects Wii Play will become the top selling piece of Nintendo Wii "software" over the console's lifetime. Divnich believes Wii Play will finish with approximately 20 million units sold, while Super Smash Bros Brawl grabs the number two spot with an expected 13.95 million units sold. Wii Play's classification as software has been the source of mental chafing considering its main selling point is the bundled Wiimote in the $50 "game" (making the the actual game $10 after the Wiimote's normal $40 price is deducted). Although the NPD numbers for December still aren't public, Divnich believes the Nintendo Wii sold 1.8 million units and the Nintendo DS broke a sales record with 2.9 million units sold -- currently the PS2 holds a December record of 2.6 million units sold during 2002. Divnich's piece of advice is that American publishers need to work outside the industry's status quo to get a hold of the "astonishing success" Nintendo is currently experiencing.
Edge: Animal Crossing Wii is a social networking MMO
Reputable European publication Edge magazine is reporting that the upcoming Animal Crossing for Nintendo Wii is indeed going the MMO route, as previously rumored by fellow Future Publishing siblings Next-Gen. "A Japanese source has confirmed to Edge that the upcoming Wii iteration of Animal Crossing is set to be a social networking MMO," reports the magazine. No other details are known at the time, Nintendo has not provided any official confirmation. The article is found on page nine of the latest issue, which prominently features the PlayStation 3 on both the front and back covers.
UK found their brainiest family
Remember back when we told you Nintendo was looking for families in the UK to try their hand at Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree? Well, turns out they found their family in the Chouhan family from Leicester, who recently won the event in London. They ended up walking away with £20,000 to put toward University fees. Nice! Karen, 50, daughter Chhaya, 17 and son Amar, 10, won the contest by getting the highest score out of all the participants. The family plans on splitting the money, by using £10,000 to pay for Chhaya's University fees and setting aside the remaining money into a trust fund for son Amar. "We're both amazed and speechless. This is such an amazing prize and Chhaya and Amar will benefit so much from the free university fees," says Karen. Congratulations to the winning family! %Gallery-3434% [Via Go Nintendo]
Wii Warm Up: MMO Crossing
Yesterday's big rumor is so interesting that we can't resist an excuse to discuss it further: Animal Crossing as MMO. What do you think of the idea? More importantly, how do you think it will work? Better yet, do you think it will work well? The idea is certainly intriguing; we like the idea of free access (or even limited free access) to the towns of others. It's something we've enjoyed from time to time in the DS version, and making it even easier could certainly be fun. But what do you think? Will it really add to the experience? Will Nintendo be able to pull it off, with their limited online experience? We have faith, but if there was ever a reason to doubt ....
Rumor: Animal Crossing going the MMO route
Could Nintendo's Animal Crossing for the Wii take the form of an MMO? Well, of course it could, but will it? Well, we don't really know for sure, but how cool would that be? Next-Gen joins in the rampant speculation with some tiny tidbits that they feel point to the inevitability of an as-yet unannounced Wii Animal Crossing MMO with social networking elements. We don't exactly share their utter confidence in that point, so either they know something we don't, or they're just heavily invested in the scraps of information collected thus far. In addition to the fact that Animal Crossing's universe fits well into massively-multiplayer conventions, Next-Gen reminds fans that Katsuya Eguchi -- the man heading up the game's development team -- has previously gone on record expressing a desire to expand connectivity to mobile phones and computers. Again, not the hard-hitting evidence we were hoping for, but we'll honor their enthusiasm for the sake of solidarity (and as an excuse to use the above image).
Nintendo on the hunt for Brits with brains
Nintendo's latest marketing campaign contest across the pond has British families tossing their hats into the ring to see who's the best collective unit at Big Brain Academy. Families only need to report to one of these locations on the date listed, get up on stage and take their turn. Those who perform the best will then head on to the next stage of the contest, hoping to win university tuition, Wii consoles and 7-day holiday trips. Are you and your family going to participate? [Via IGN]
ONM: Mario Kart Wii supports 16 online, includes DS maps [Updated]
We haven't heard much about Mario Kart Wii since it was unveiled at E3. Thanks to one intrepid forum goer with just a scanner and a dream, we now have a little more info on the game from the UK's Official Nintendo Magazine. Apparently MKW will support up to 16 players in a game (does that translate to 16 different characters?) and will be the first in the series to offer Battle Mode online. Oh, and you can now perform stunts in the air. We're not yet sure if we should be troubled by the fact that in addition to some Wii-exclusive maps, "classic DS tracks will be recreated with Wii graphics." We're going to hold off on getting worried until we see how many new tracks are being included. But let's hope for at least half-and-half, eh? Update: According to CVG, Official Nintendo Magazine has released a statement saying, "The details printed in Official Nintendo Magazine 21 regarding Mario Kart Wii were healthy speculation on our part and are in no way an official announcement from Nintendo. We are sorry if we have mislead anyone. We do not set out to mislead our readers. ONM apologizes profusely for any misunderstandings that this has caused." So, did ONM spill a few beans too early, or were they just making stuff up? [Thanks, Ian]
Are you smarter than Nintendo marketing?
This season, the Canadian version of Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader, cleverly titled Are You Smarter than a Canadian 5th Grader, will feature something extra for players to determine whether they are smarter than: Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree. Not only will demo stations be set up at the casting calls, the game will actually be highlighted in the show itself. The $25,000 question is being renamed the "Big Brain Academy Question," for example. In addition, the press release mentions that "the show will include other exciting hallmark features of the game." That probably means that some of the minigames from the Wii game will make their way into TV game show format, with the added component of being tested against the equivalent (due to exchange rate) of an American 4.724th grader.
Tell Nintendo your Big Brain Academy opinions, get free keychain
You could just make up your opinions just for the free keychain, but we wouldn't condone that sort of thing. No, we're a very anti-lies and anti-deception kind of outfit here at Wii Fanboy. We just like to keep it real like that, as the kids say. So, instead give Nintendo your honest thoughts on the game and get a free keychain. it's a win-win situation! How do you get your hands on this tiny little Wiimote, exactly? Well, all you need to do is: Sign up for My Nintendo Register your copy of Big Brain Academy Wii Degree Take a survey Confirm your address ??? Profit! Who's going to get their hands on this keychain?
Metareview: Big Brain Academy
With the release of Big Brain Academy Wii Degree, many have found something fresh to play on their Wii. With the prospect of new titles on the regular becoming smaller and smaller as the months wear on (until August 20th, that is), many were hoping that Big Brain Academy could fill that empty void in their life. According to critics, that just isn't happening as the game has a variety of different issues. IGN (76/100) thinks the game has a long way to go to perfection: "You're going to have fun here, but in three or four years we'll look back at this game and it will pale by comparison to its inevitable sequels." GameSpot (73/100) says it's still just a collection of minigames: "Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree is a simple collection of brain teasers that are different enough from the other minigame collections on the Wii to make it worth playing." Yahoo! Games (70/100) says the game costs too much: "Big brains are certainly desirable, but big price tags are a different matter, and Wii Degree's standard $49.99 asking price is a little hard to stomach. While the game is tons of fun, there's just a handful of minigames and not much else, which puts it in a different class to other full-priced options." GameDaily (70/100) is of the mind that the game needed more minigames: "It needed more minigames and a livelier presentation, but gamers will enjoy the multiplayer options and gameplay innovations." Any of you out there pick the game up and want to offer your opinions?
