Tag Archives: Wii

Nintendo just announced that SD cards working in collaboration with its brand new SD storage solution can store up to 240 games.

That’s a large number. Nintendo’s been liking the large numbers pretty well lately.

Do you even have 240 games? We don’t. And no, those cheap NES rip-off collections don’t count.

Get the full liveblog of Iwata’s keynote here.

Hard drive? No, but it’s still a storage solution, and it’ll have to do.

According to a report by Eurogamer, Nintendo recently updated the Wii system software to run games from all channels — Virtual Console, WiiWare, you name it — straight from an SD card.

Save games, however, must still be stored in the Wii’s system memory. Bummer. But not really.

Get the full liveblog of Iwata’s keynote here.

The American dollar’s apparently so devoid of value these days that GoGamer really just doesn’t care anymore. The site’s currently kicking its inventory out and telling it to get a real job with a certifiably insane 48-hour madness sale. Seriously, look at these deals:

• Little Big Planet (PS3) (I) – $21.90
• NCAA March Madness 08 (PS3) – $5.90
• Guitar Hero Aerosmith Software (Wii) – $11.90
• Stranglehold (Xbox 360) – $9.90
• Top Spin 3 (Xbox 360) – $9.90
• Prey (PC) – $2.90
• Evil Genius (I) (PC) – $4.90
• The Settlers VI: Rise of an Empire (PC) – $4.90
• Rainbow Six: Lockdown (PC) – $4.90
• Saitek Notebook Optical Mouse Yellow – $1.90
• Brain Spa (PC) – $4.90
• Call of Juarez (PC) – $4.90
• Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions (PC) – $4.90
• Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred (I) (PC) – $4.90
• Dark Messiah of Might and Magic (PC) – $4.90
• Seven Kingdoms Conquest (PC) – $4.90
• Music On PSP (PC) – $1.90
• Virtua Tennis 3 (PSP) – $9.90
• Saitek Mini UFO USB Hub – $1.90
• ATV Off Road Fury Pro (PSP) – $9.90

You’d have to be some kind of fool not to capitalize on this bounteous sales bonanza. Now then, go on. Time’s running out, etc.

Thanks, EvilAvatar.

Destructoid has dug up the Japanese trailer for Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles on YouTube.

We’ve posted it after the break. It’s got zombies, guns.

The on-rails shooter is out this winter.

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In an interview with MTV Multiplayer, id Software mega-brain John Carmack admitted that he might’ve been a tad hasty in declaring Nintendo’s rascally white waggle-muffin to be an underpowered miscreant.

“Interestingly, I actually spend far more time playing Wii with my four year-old boy than I do with any other game console. So I’m definitely sympathetic to the platform,” he said.

“We’ve been pitched and talked about a project to do a title that would fit well on the Wii, and it’s actually related to an iPhone title that we’re doing. But that’s still kind of up in the air as to what other developer we would partner with on there.”

At the very least, however, Carmack is sure that his company’s first date with the Wii won’t be a crummy rehash of a previous id product.

“Yeah, it would have to be a completely different game. We would use one of our existing IPs where we have a little bit of leverage. It’s not something that really any of our titles, that are under development currently would be appropriate for,” he noted.

Tons more through the link.

After announcing that Bethesda was working an iPhone game at Comic Con yesterday, Todd Howard spoke his mind on Nintendo’s Wii, saying that he was “not threatened” by the console because “it’s a toy.”

MTV’s Stephen Totilo brought the subject up, and Howard said that from a consumer’s point of view “the Wii is a kids’ toy,” and the public thinks that “the PS3 and Xbox 360 are for evil killfests”.

NewsWeek’s N’Gai Croal responded to Todd’s remarks by mentioning the sales advantage Wii has, to which the Bethesda boss retorted that “the Wii is not a threat” because it caters to games that are vastly different to those his team develops.

Thanks, That VideoGame Blog.

Wii-owning Rock Band 2 fans are now able to grab music from corporate rockers Boston, as well as All-American Rejects and Blondie.

As of yesterday, users can now download the following from in-game Rock Band 2 Music Store for $2.00 (200 Wii points) each:

• Boston – Hitch a Ride, Peace of Mind, Smokin’, Something About You
• Blondie – Hanging on the Telephone
• The All-American Rejects – Dirty Little Secret

Come March, Europe will geta taste of Southpeak’s Mushroom Men when they finally land on DS and Wii.

Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars is a 3D platformer in its Wii incarnation, while Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi is a side-scrolling action prequel to the former for DS.

The US got them in December of last year. They were suppose to come a month earlier to Europe, but thanks to Southpeak’s purchase of  Gamecock in 2008, the game was pushed a bit further ahead into February 2009, and now March.

First shown way back during the neanderthallic, pre-Wii E3 of 2006, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers’ existence has recently (and rightfully) been called into question. Well, stop doubting and start practicing your best post-victory boogie, because Square Enix has finally dropped a new FFCCTCB trailer, and it’s looking, well, pretty much like a Final Fantasy game.

Co-oping with the newly released Wii version of FFCC: Echoes of Time, the trailer features a blonde, be-goggled protagonist (not this guy) who flings enemies to death with the help of his righteous, probably Wii-Mote-controlled right hand and a thumping country soundtrack. Dogs seem to be considered an instrument here, as well.

Also blipping on this trailer’s radar are airships, Chocobos, and – you guessed it – crystals. Really, the whole thing looks fantastic, if we’re being honest.

Check out the full trailer after the break.

Thanks, Wired.

By Nathan Grayson

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VentureBeat has taken a long, hard look at the numbers and rendered a verdict. The site’s startling discovery: Wii is to PS2 as PS3 is to GameCube.

According to NPD data (U.S. only), Nintendo’s bid for the throne currently sits at 17.5 million units sold. At the same period during its legendary reign, Sony’s PS2 had only moved 15.9 million units.

Meanwhile, the PlayStation 3 is forging its own, decidedly less lucrative path with 6.79 million units distributed across the U.S. The GameCube, an odd duck in its own right, let Nintendo’s manufacturing facilities grow fat and complacent with a mere 6.75 million units sold.

As for the Xbox 360, well, you’ve probably already guessed; Microsoft’s second console is the spitting image of its first, moving only 18% more quickly at this point.

Any guesses as to who will snag the best horse on the merry-go-round next?

By Nathan Grayson

As recent events have seemingly implied, there’s no better way to snag a gaggle of buyers than to slash a few digits off your console’s price tag. However, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata doesn’t need to cheapen his company’s console in order to spur sales, and frankly, he abhors the very thought of it.

“This is my personal thinking, but when the model’s price-tag drops over time, manufacturers are telling consumers it’s better to wait, and I’ve always thought that was a mistake,” he told Touch-DS.jp (translated by Kotaku).

Iwata went on to explain that he believes straight-out-the-gate buyers shouldn’t be forced to feel ripped-off by lower prices later in a console’s life cycle.

Releasing dual-camera-ed, dual-screened sleek ‘n’ sexy console reiterations, though? Well, that’s completely different.

By Nathan Grayson

Speaking with Gamasutra, Itagaki-successor Hitoshi Hasegawa and Ninja Gaiden Sigma director/former Itagaki-successor Yosuke Hayashi suffocated Sony’s next-gen competitor with smooches.

“The developers have been releasing products, but there is a bigger potential,” Hayashi said. “There is greater potential, and we see that possibility the most in the PlayStation 3. It’s going to be up to us developers and Sony to make sure that that does happen.”

“For any developer that’s been working on all of the platforms that are available today, I think they would agree that the PlayStation 3 is the most powerful system out there,” he added, also touting Sony’s top-notch developer support.

When the Wii’s turn came around, however, things were a little less cut-and-dry.

“Internally at the company, we have a lot of knowledge, and I think we’ve
mastered most of the components to make a very compelling and entertaining product using the console,” Hasegawa explained.

“We will continue to work in that path. We have a lot of Wii console fans within the company, so hopefully there’s something that we can work on.”

Gobs more through the link.

By Nathan Grayson

It’s been quite a long month, but a little FTP excursion by IGN may finally have uncovered The Conduit’s shadowy publisher.

According to the site’s report, Sega recently snuck a “The Conduit” folder onto its public FTP site, hinting strongly that the house that destroyed Sonic will publish High Voltage’s mega-hyped Wii FPS.

Apparently, an official announcement is due later this week. Riveting.

By Nathan Grayson

Don’t arch your eyebrows skeptically at us; we’re only the messenger. Do, however, allow your piercing gaze to land on Square Enix, who may have a Wii port of a cell phone game waiting in the wings.

The rumor stems from a comment made by Square Enix’s master of all things FFIV, Takashi Tokita. In response to an over-eager fan’s query about yet another possible FFIV remake, he replied:

“We just remade it, so it’s a bit of a stretch… [Laughs] Currently the sequel, FINAL FANTASY IV the After: Tsuki no Kikan is available for mobile phones in Japan. We’ll do our best to make this game available for our overseas audiences as well!”

As a result, RPGSite decided to dig deeper. According to the RPG-centric website’s Square Enix “sources,” apparently FFIV: The After, a game that lists the GBA as one of its greatest inspirations, will be forgoing a logical appearance on the Nintendo DS in favor of some kind of release on the Wii. Why, we can’t even begin to fathom.

If this actually happens, we’ll eat an entire hat factory.

By Nathan Grayson

Despite only being on sale for 11 days, Wii fighter Super Smash Bros. Brawl has sold more than 1 million copies in Japan, according to this.

The game is the fastest to achieve 1 million sales for Wii in Japan, with Wii Fit taking seven weeks and Wii Sports 11 weeks to reach the milestone.

Everything appears to be going terribly for Nintendo, doesn’t it?

Nintendo UK GM David Yarnton has said that the British Wii’s attach rate is on the up, but hasn’t back up the claim with figures.

“We are still very early into the life-cycle but even so we are seeing the attach rate increasing all the time,” he said. “As we bring new users to video games we are increasing future potential and as new product is released that provides innovation and appeals to everyone, we will see that attach rate grow further.”

Microsoft recently claimed a record attach rate for Xbox 360 in the US, with Nintendo US countering that during December 2007 the company had seen more software sold per console than ever before.

Nearly a million Japanese people can’t be wrong. Super Smash Bros. Brawl has sold 820,000 units in its first week on sale in Japan, according to Media Create, for the week ending February 3. Mental. Wii Fit has now been knocked down to fifth place, after enjoying several weeks in the top slot.

Devil May Cry 4, as predicted, came in second place, with 205,000 copies sold. The rest of the list is below.

1. Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii)
2. Devil May Cry 4 (PS3)
3. Tales of Destiny: Director’s Cut (PS2)
4. Haruhi Suzumiya’s Wonderment (PS2)
5. Wii Fit (Wii)
6. Disgaea 3 (PS3)
7. Devil May Cry 4 (360)
8. Mario & Sonic at the Olympics (DS)
9. Assassin’s Creed (PS3)
10. World Soccer Winning Eleven: Ubiquitous Evolution 2008 (PSP)

According to this, Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Brawl will hit the 800,000 units sold mark in its first week on store shelves in Japan. All these figures are approximate, and come through VGChartz, apparently originating at Famitsu. Official figures soon.

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii): more than 800k (sell-through rate 95%)
2. Devil May Cry (PS3): about 210k
3. Suzumiya Haruhi no Tomadoi (PS2): about 113k
4. Tales of Destiny Directors Cut (PS2): about 97k
5. Wii Fit (Wii)
6. Desgaea 3 (PS3)L about 56k
7. Devil May Cry (360): about 40k
8. Assasin’s Creed (PS3): about 37k
9. Mario & Sonic at Beijing Olympics (DS)
10. Winning Eleven: Ubiquitous Evolution 2008 (PSP)

Konami is billing the Wii version of PES 2008 as “the future of the football genre” by utilising the Wiimote and Nunchuck to be able to control multiple players on the field. Sounds natty.

According to this, the Nunchuck is used to move the player with the ball, while the Wiimote picks out other players and send them on runs or let them receive passes via a drag system. Up the 16 Miis can be used in the game, as previously known. Take a look at the release for a ton of other information.

In case you were wondering, this is why Firaxis decided to stop developing the Wii version of Civilization Revolution.

“CivRev was originally a 360/PS3 project and was in development for over a year before the Wii/DS platforms were added, largely because we saw the success of those platforms and a lot of people (including myself) were very excited about them,” said Firaxis programmer Scott Lewis. “All of our assets were originally created with the 360/PS3 in mind. In order to bring them to the Wii, a great deal of work would have to go into making those assets look appropriate on Nintendo’s system. If we had started the project with all four platforms in mind, it is far more likely that we would not have put the Wii version of CivRev on hold.”

So

3 Posted in: Development, Strategy, Wii
Tags: canned, Civilization Revolution, scott lewis, Wii