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Analyst: US Wii sales 'steady' despite Japanese decline
Last week, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata described the Wii's sales status in Japan as "the most unhealthy situation since its launch in Japan." According to Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian, the situation is significantly healthier in the US. "With recent data from Japan indicating a slowdown in Wii hardware, our checks in the U.S. still indicate fairly steady sell-through," Sebastian said. Any perceived drop in hardware sales is attributable to normal "seasonal sluggishness."Even better, production increases mean that, for once, there is enough supply to meet the steady demand. Sebastian reports that Wii hardware is "widely available at retail." If Wii Sports Resort is expected to fix the "unhealthy" situation in Japan, we may expect hardware supply to dip again worldwide when that comes out.%Gallery-27709%
Wii games unlikely to be patched with MotionPlus support
Trying to make sense of the month-and-a-half delay between the release of Nintendo's MotionPlus and the first Nintendo game to use it, Wii Sports Resort, GameDaily proposed a theory. Maybe there would be games to play at launch -- old games! "With a nearly two-month span of time between the accessory release and the game's arrival at retail," GameDaily's Micheal Mullen wrote, "we expect that Nintendo will release patches that will make the new accessory work with your already existing library." The first game to receive such treatment, of course, would be the original Wii Sports.Nintendo's response to GameDaily suggests that this won't be happening: "The Wii MotionPlus accessory is only for games that are designed to make use of its abilities." Nintendo isn't really much for patching games with updated functionality, unless you consider releasing the game again seven years later on a different disc a kind of "patching."
GameStop demonstrates 1:1 'gouging' motion for MotionPlus
Did you buy a Zapper from GameStop? Then you paid $5 over MSRP, just for the "privilege" of being able to visit GameStop (unless you bought it used, of course). It appears that the retailer will employ the same pricing scheme of "$5 more than" (what it's supposed to be) for the MotionPlus attachment.GameStop's website currently lists the peripheral at $24.99, five bucks over the price announced this morning. The retail listing uses an image matching the new appearance of the device (inside a new, larger Wii remote jacket), suggesting that GameStop has had time to update the price to match Nintendo's announcement -- but hasn't. Of course, there is a chance this isn't GameStop's final price.If you don't mind waiting, Gamestop is taking preorders of the Wii Sports Resort/MotionPlus bundle for the recommended $49.99 price. If you do mind waiting and you don't want Resort, then ... go pretty much anywhere else.[Via GoNintendo]
Wii MotionPlus shipping June 8, Wii Sports Resort following on July 26
Just in case Satoru Iwata's promise of a July release window for Wii Sports Resort wasn't good enough for you, Nintendo sent official word that the upcoming game will launch in the U.S. on July 26. As expected, the beach-themed sequel will come bundled with the MotionPlus peripheral for $50, which will be released by itself on June 8 for $20. Nintendo promises that "developers around the world" are working on titles to take advantage of MotionPlus. Purely by coincidence, wrists around the world have begun to cry out in fear.
Nintendo's $19.99 MotionPlus Wiimote add-on ships to US on June 8th
Alright, so maybe the rumors weren't that far off, but the Big N just did us a solid by establishing US availability of its MotionPlus Wiimote accessory a few weeks ahead of when we were expecting. Granted, it's downright baffling that these things still aren't out on the market, but we're fully anticipating perfection from something that has been in the Crock-Pot® for so long. Shortly after E3 2009 concludes (June 8th, to be precise), Nintendo will ship its MotionPlus add-on stateside. The device itself will run you $19.99, though you could wait until July 26th to pick up the totally attractive Wii Sports Resort for $49.99, which naturally comes bundled with one of the accessories.
Wii MotionPlus and Wii Sports Resort (feat. Disc Dog) out in July
According to a source at Nintendo (the source being Nintendo's website) the company will include its long-awaited, not-yet-duplicated Wii MotionPlus with the upcoming Wii Sports Resort collection, to be bandied about at E3 this June. The sequel to the Wii Sports promises an even greater sense of submersion for games with titles like Sword Play, Power Cruising, and Disc Dog. Disc Dog! According to Tech Radar, the game -- and the device -- will be out in Japan in June, and will then go on to see the light of day in the rest of the world sometime in July. Pricing and specific release dates have yet to be announced, but you'll know as soon as we do -- promise.Read - Nintendo Wii Sports 2 and MotionPlus out JulyRead - E3 2008: Wii Sports Resort
Iwata: Wii Sports Resort out in Japan this June, overseas in July
Satoru Iwata has announced both Japanese and Western release windows for Wii Sports Resort, and thus we can assume for the required MotionPlus peripheral as well. The sequel to the Wii launch title will be out in Japan this June, with an "overseas" release the following month, according to Reuters' account of statements made at a lunch meeting. No pricing was announced. The July release is completely in line with the rumored European date called "rumor and speculation" by NoE.The Nintendo president named Wii Sports Resort as a measure to combat the Japanese Wii market's current slowdown (a situation he described as "the most unhealthy situation since its launch in Japan.") He denied that Nintendo would cut Wii prices in order to increase sales, saying, "If our products are not much different from competitors', price cuts would generate significant fresh demand. But video games are just not that kind of product."%Gallery-27741%
Nintendo of Europe calls MotionPlus release date 'rumor and speculation'
Nintendo of Europe reps have called the recent release list with MotionPlus dated on it "purely rumor and speculation," reports Eurogamer. This news comes after reports last week that July 10th would see not only the release of the MotionPlus add-on, but Nintendo's followup to Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, as well.The report also mentions Wii Fit Plus, a game/expansion/whozeewhatsit set to drop on November 19, though NoE makes no mention of the mystery title in the conversation. We've asked for comment from Nintendo of America and will update if and when we hear something from the perpetually tight-lipped publisher.
Rumor: Release list dates Wii Sports Resort with MotionPlus, reveals Wii Fit Plus
A GoNintendo reader by the name of Maxemillian_X recently snapped a picture of an upcoming release list from an Amsterdam-based gaming retailer which reveals two interesting pieces of Wii news. The first (and somewhat more reasonable) item is a supposed July 10 release date for the Wii Sports Resort and Wii MotionPlus bundle, as well as the standalone MotionPlus peripheral.The second eye catching release date on the list is for Wii Fit Plus, which is apparently due out November 19, giving us plenty of time to find out what the hell it is. Given the pictured release list's dubious origins (we don't know what store it came from), we're taking it with a healthy dose of trepidation. Still, a summer release for Wii Sports Resort and a follow up to Nintendo's exergaming cash cow don't seem beyond the realm of possibilities.
GDC09: Spring release for MotionPlus still possible
With all of the amazing stuff that Nintendo did show at GDC, we briefly forgot about what it didn't show: Wii Sports Resort and the MotionPlus device, both of which we'd expect to hear something about if they were still planned for "spring." MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo asked Reggie Fils-Aime about the missing game and peripheral, and Reggie suggested they could still make a spring release. "We haven't announced the full spring line-up ... And it feels like winter in Seattle right now."Reggie also mentioned that Wii Sports Resort's controls had been improved beyond the previous demo. "The level of full motion capability is far in excess of what we showed at E3."%Gallery-27741%
Nintendo increases order with MotionPlus component maker
While the rest of the world is in the middle of a recession, Nintendo's got more money coming in than ever, and it appears that they don't see that changing any time soon. According to Digitimes, Nintendo has increased the quantity of an order with a company called Invensense, who makes the rate gyroscope used in the upcoming MotionPlus peripheral.This suggests that Nintendo is increasing their estimate of MotionPlus demand -- and probably increasing their expectations for the sales of Wii Sports Resort. Either that or they are ramping up production of MotionPlus according to an existing plan. Something (let's call it "history") tells us that even their augmented production won't keep up with demand for 2009's big-big-big Nintendo product.%Gallery-27709%[Via Kotaku]
MotionPlus to be 'very affordable,' Wii add-ons curtailed for now
The Wii has long been heralded as the cheapest console out there, but that claim soon weakens if you want to own every add-on that is available for the platform. Nintendo seems to recognize that Wii ownership is getting increasingly pricey, and now company bossman Satoru Iwata has said: no more add-ons!Okay, so he didn't quite make that promise. But Iwata has told the Wall Street Journal that "most of the ideas for accessories that we had initially come up with are out now." If you can hear sighing, that'll be our wallets, though don't get comfy right away: Iwata has warned that Nintendo might think up more, presumably once the company's bank balance has dipped below the danger level of one trillion-gazillion* dollars.Iwata also confirmed that Nintendo would try and make the Wii MotionPlus "very affordable," an attainable goal considering that the add-on is apparently cheap to make. There will also be games that can only be played with a MotionPlus plugged in -- beginning, we'd assume, with Wii Sports Resort.* Possibly not a real number.%Gallery-27709%[Via Edge; thanks, supa_s!]
E308: Wii Fanboy's E3 Endgame Evaluation
In the second year of the newly revamped show, Nintendo released a few much-desired games, as well as a pair of incredible peripherals, and yet, there seemed to be something missing. Much of the show's excitement came from third parties (on my Nintendo Wii?), and some found Nintendo's announcements disappointing. Whatever your reaction, we're sure we can all agree on one thing: there was a ton of news and a flood of media. Luckily, you can revisit it all right here (even the week's most outrageous story, which wasn't even from E3).We've listed a few of the show's highlights below, but for the full index of all our 2008 E3 coverage, hit the break. We still have a few items rolling in, and we'll be updating the index as that happens. Check back with us over the next few days by clicking the E3 sidebar graphic. A new Pikmin sprouts! Animal Crossing: City Folk confirmed The Conduit will use WiiSpeak Wii Sports Resort announced (and Wii MotionPlus!) Mega Man 9 feels more like a 10 Wii Fanboy bats-on with Mario Super Sluggers Animal Crossing to support keyboards, save fruit-picking time Wii Fanboy hands-on with Wii Sports Resort
Joystiq E3 hands-on: Wii Sports Resort
What Wii Sports did for the Wiimote, Wii Sports Resort does for the Wii MotionPlus. The added precision of the Wii MotionPlus gets to show off in the title and, from the three minigames we experienced, it gives an idea of how other games could benefit from the accessory.We had a chance to try out Disc Dog, Power Cruising and, our favorite, Sword Play. Nintendo says the Wii MotionPlus gives 1:1 control, but that's stretching the truth just a little. The controls certainly feel more precise than the Wiimote in its current state, but we're not exactly sure just yet if it'll fulfill gamer fantasies of precise lightsaber duels.%Gallery-27741%
E308: Nintendo exec alludes to Wiimote refresh with built-in MotionPlus
Your Wiimotes might be outdated pretty soon, that is if Nintendo's Katsuya Eguchi is to be trusted. During a developer roundtable, he alluded to the possibility of a hardware refresh on the Wii's motion-sensitive controller, one that would include the new MotionPlus functionality, commenting "as to looking at whether or not it will be an attachment or built in - we're always looking at how hardware should evolve and where we should take it." He also added that "it's something we'll be looking at."Of course, there are several things to consider. For one, how much would it drive up the cost of the Wiimote? Secondly, how crappy would it be to have to (eventually) buy all new Wiimotes? Thirdly, until Nintendo shows off a killer app for the thing (as okay as Wii Sports Resort looks, it's definitely not a killer app), does anyone even care?[Via Engadget]
Friday Video: Wii Sports Resort Sword Play at E3
Well, so much for Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Really, as much as we love the thought of using our Wiimotes as Lightsabers, we don't think such duels will be able to compare to the Sword Play in Wii Sports Resort. That's right, we went there.Seeing the 1:1 motion controls in action (via the Wii MotionPlus) just puts us in awe. Are we just too easily amazed, or are you guys excited, too? Maybe we can just pretend our swords are Lightsabers. Of course, we'll have to wait until spring to try any of it out, anyway. Too bad, so sad.
Wii Warm Up: E3
Because we've also asked DS fans, we thought we'd pose the same question here: how would you rate the Wii's E3?Despite the angry tidal wave of criticism over what many (but not all) saw as a disappointing Nintendo keynote, the more recent announcement of a third Pikmin game seems to have tempered the outcry a little. Not that there was a shortage of announcements in the first place -- WiiSpeak, Wii Sports Resort, Animal Crossing: City Folk, MotionPlus, Wii Music, and online, WiiSpeak-enabled multiplayer in The Conduit were all entirely new to us.Fill us in on the bits of E3 you liked, the bits you hated, the surprises, and the no-shows.
E308: Wii Fanboy hands-on with Wii Sports Resort
Going into our play session yesterday, we didn't have high hopes for the fun factor of NIntendo's expected sequel. In watching it at Nintendo's E3 keynote, we thought that cutting wood on the beach didn't really look that fun and a sort of dumbed down Wave Race experience seemed like a bad addition. Good thing we were wrong about one of those things.%Gallery-27709%
E308: Live highlights from Nintendo's private conference
Did yesterday's Nintendo keynote leave you wanting more? Well, pipe down already -- you're getting more. The company is holding a private conference, and our very own JC Fletcher is invited to the party. Since you can't be there, we'll be posting JC's highlights right here, live. We hope your F5 buttons and refresh fingers are ready, because the word on the street is that something big is going to be revealed. Of course, that could just be disgruntled fans' hopes evolving into a rumor, but we'd like to believe that's not the case. We'd hate to be disappointed by the big N two days in a row, after all.If we hear something big (or not so big), don't worry, you'll be the first to know (well, uh, after us).Update: So far it looks like the same stuff from the keynote. Katsuya Eguchi takes the floor.
Nintendo MotionPlus hands-on: blah.
So yeah, we got a chance to check out Nintendo's new MotionPlus accessory. Wii Sports Resort is the only title announced right now that requires (or supports) MotionPlus, and we gave a couple of the games a run (like sword fighting and jet-skiing). Basically we're a little at a loss as to how this does anything truly differently or more effectively than current controllers. We get that it's got additional MEMS accelerometers that supposedly bring the relationship of motion and gameplay to a more 1:1 ratio, and for the motion types we tested, it did seem to work -- but the experience and level of immersion felt basically the same. So what's the deal? More after the break.%Gallery-27881%
