Posts Tagged ‘Nintendo’

E3: Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure with Coin-Op TV’s Hailey Bright

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

Here we have another one of Coin-Op TV’s installments of some E3 coverage with Hailey Bright (Busy Gamer’s Gamette of the Year 2009). Hailey talks with Toys For Bob’s executive producer Jeff Poffenbarger about Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure. Check it out!

Thanks to Coin-Op TV for sharing this video from E3 with us, you can check out more of their E3 coverage here at www.coin-op.tv.

First glance at the new Wii U controller

Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

Wii U? Wii Me. Well it’s pronounced (Wii-Yoo), and it’s the first peek at the impressive new hardware going along with Nintendo’s new Wii U game system. The console is not nearly as impressive looking as the controller, but this bad boy above clearly makes up for it. Looks like we have a nice view screen for ‘game inventory’ type stuff along with the regular buttons and whatnots. Wonder if we will be able to play mini games on it too? Who knows, maybe even with the console powered off. More on this as we get it!

E3 UPDATE: June 08, 2011
(Gamespot) – As with the Wii, the controller is the heart of the Wii U. And it’s large–think somewhat smaller than an iPad and considerably bigger than the original Sony PSP. The reps on hand noted that the controller was designed to offer a new way for players to interact with the console, games, and other players. They understood that, much like the first time we saw the Wii Remote, the only way to really understand was to show us.

On the face of the controller you’ll find a 6.2-inch touch screen (Nintendo declined to say whether it was multitouch capable). A stylus slides out of the controller for use on the touch screen (which makes us think it’s based on resistive touch technology). During the E3 2011 press conference, Nintendo showed the stylus being used for fairly complex sketching, which shows us how detailed the touch screen will be. The matte screen has great viewing angles and offers vivid colors and brightness, making it ideal for use by two people at the same time at very off angles. The pixel density seems to be high enough to put it on par with modern smartphones. Nintendo stated that it’s not high definition, but the resolution appears to be substantially higher than the 3DS screen. We’re guessing the screen is under 1280×720 and above 640×480.

Nintendo eschewed a complex controller with the Wii by limiting the number of buttons. By contrast, the Wii U controller practically bristles with them. Two circle pads, similar to those found on the portable Nintendo 3DS, flank either side of the screen. A D pad resides on the left; A, B, X, and Y buttons are on the right; two shoulder buttons are on the top; two trigger-like buttons are on the bottom; and the usual array of start, select, and home buttons line the bottom. But it doesn’t end there.

Like the Wii, the Wii U controller also features motion controls that should be on par with the Wii MotionPlus. Although you won’t be using it like a Wii Remote, as its bulk and unwieldiness prevent it from mimicking sports equipment like bats and rackets.

A front-facing camera sits at the top of the controller, ostensibly for use in taking pictures and possibly for augmented-reality capabilities. At its E3 2011 press conference, Nintendo revealed that the controller will have video chat capabilities. Built-in speakers also play back sound, and the controller also features a headphone jack.

The controller is capable of playing games even if the TV is being used at the moment for something else, like watching shows. It’s portable in a sense, but only within wireless reach of the main console, because all of the controller’s visuals are generated by the console and then streamed to the controller.

One of the key features of Wii U is its backward compatibility with Wii controllers (remotes, nunchuks, and more). Many of the cases we saw involved anywhere from two to four remotes, with and without nunchuks, and one player on the Wii U controller. Players on Wii Remotes would generally get split-screen gameplay on the TV, while the player on the Wii U controller would primarily use the screen on the controller. Most of the games we saw would give the player on the Wii U controller extra information, or an entirely different perspective paired with vastly different controls. In general, the player with the Wii U controller was pit against the players with Wii Remotes.

The Wii on the Way Out & Another to Take Its Place?

Monday, April 18th, 2011

Over the last week, the Wii has been rumored to be heading on its way off the market. With all of the major first-party titles released on the Wii, this wouldn’t shock me. What shocks me is how quickly it might be moving out. Could Project Cafe be here by the holiday 2011 or early 2012?

Last week according to CVG, a trusted source has said that Nintendo will cut the price of the Wii to May 15. With this announcement, Best Buy responded online by lowering the price temporarily to $169.99.Of course, Nintendo dodged the question when Nintendo of America’s President Reggie Fils-Aime replied to a few questions from CVG:

(more…)

Nintendo says “NO” to NES Phone

Monday, April 4th, 2011

That's a big 'Nintend-No' to a NES Phone.

(CNN) – Playing Super Mario on a Nintendo phone will remain a pipe dream.

Although Microsoft and Sony, Nintendo’s rivals among the “Big Three” gaming companies, have branched into mobile phone development, Nintendo isn’t planning to build a phone or license its games for third-party software platforms, executives for the Japanese company said in interviews.

Instead, the video-game giant is continuing to focus on machines dedicated to entertainment.

“We have no desire to get into telephony,” Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said. “We believe that we will earn our way into someone’s pocket without having to offer that (phone capability) as an additional factor.”

Nintendo isn’t completely discounting the idea, but the high costs involved in cellular carrier partnerships are a roadblock, said Hideki Konno, a top Nintendo producer.

“It’s not that I’m uninterested,” Konno said through a translator. “However, I look at the business model, and I see so many additional costs that come into play.” Splitting revenue with cell operators would affect the retail price of games, he said.

“Would we increase the price of the software itself?” Konno asked. “The distribution couldn’t be free.”

On March 25, Nintendo released the 3DS, the first mainstream gadget available that can show 3-D graphics without the need for special glasses. Games cost about $40, compared with the free and inexpensive applications available for phones. In addition to games, the 3DS also is designed to be able to download movies or stream them via Netflix.

[Full article at CNN.com]

Nintendo 3DS: Gaming just may be it’s second mode of operation

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

3DS to pack a multi-media punch!

(CNN.com) – Nintendo 3DS, a glasses-free 3-D handheld video game system, arrives March 27 for $249.99.

But calling it a gaming console may be the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American public. Gaming, it turns out, might be among the least of the system’s capabilities.

The device will also deliver an array of other fully-connected entertainment experiences, according to Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime at the 2011 Game Developers Conference.

From 3-D movies to TV shows, digital music to augmented reality applications, the company is clearly assigning tremendous importance to non-gaming applications.

Though they won’t say it directly, Nintendo clearly plans to make the system a Trojan horse for the larger world of 3-D multimedia. This should scare the competition.

It’s an infinitely more practical, and reasonably priced, 3-D argument than a $1500+ HDTV that tethers you to your couch.

If Nintendo can make this portable device as common and trusted for 3-D entertainment as smartphones are for e-mail or Web surfing, it may single-handedly deliver the breakthrough that carries this technology to mainstream prominence.

Yes, the system will play 3-D versions of premium game franchises like “Street Fighter” and “The Legend of Zelda,” says Fils-Aime. Yes, in the wake of increasing pressure from tens of thousands of readily available free and 99-cent apps, it will redouble efforts to justify $39.99 average software prices by offering “premium experiences you can’t get anywhere else.”

But with free AT&T WiFi hotspot availability, Netflix movie streaming and the ability to create, download and physically interact with 3-D content among its arsenal of tricks, the company may have yet to play its trump card.

[Full article at CNN.com]

Mario Named King In Survey Of 13,000 Gamers

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

Mario celebrates his victory... or he's jumping for a coin, we never can tell

With all of the iterations of Mario Bros. and the spin offs it has produced, it should be no surprise to anyone that Mario has been voted as the greatest video game character of all time.

Easily one of the most recognizable characters throughout several generations of gamers, the familiar red hatted plumber has become an icon among even those who would be considered casual gamers.

Mario edged out fellow Nintendo character Link (of “Legend of Zelda” fame) to take the number one spot in a recent survey performed by the Guiness World Records’ website. The survey took the answers of 13,000 gamers to produce the book “Guinness World Records 2011 Gamer’s Edition” and a list of the top 50 video game characters can be found below.

It’s worth noting that out of the top 50, Nintendo had an impressive 11 characters on the list.

1. Mario (Donkey Kong, Nintendo, 1981)
2. Link (The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo, 1986)
3. Master Chief (Halo: Combat Evolved, Microsoft, 2001)
4. Solid Snake (Metal Gear, Konami, 1987)
5. Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII, Square, 1997)
6. Pac-Man (Pac-Man, Namco, 1980)
7. Lara Croft (Tomb Raider, Eidos 1996)
8. Gordon Freeman (Half-Life, Valve, 1998)
9. Kratos (God of War, Sony, 2005)
10. Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega, 1990)
11. Crash (Crash Bandicoot, Sony, 1996)
12. “Soap??? MacTavish (Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Activision, 2007)
13. Nico Bellic (Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar, 2008)
14. Samus Aran (Metroid, Nintendo 1986)
15. Ratchet (Ratchet & Clank, Sony, 2002)
16. Nathan Drake (Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Sony, 2007)
17. Captain Price (Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Activision, 2007)
18. Kirby (Kirby’s Dream Land, Nintendo, 1992)
19. Marcus Fenix (Gears of War, Microsoft, 2006)
20. Pikachu (Pokemon Red/Green, Nintendo 1996)
21. Yoshi (Super Mario World, Nintendo, 1990)
22. “CJ??? Johnson (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Rockstar, 2004)
23. Mega Man (Mega Man, Capcom, 1987)
24. Sam Fisher (Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, Ubisoft, 2002)
25. Shadow (Sonic Adventure 2, Sega, 2001)
26. Jak (Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Sony, 2001)
27. Duke Nukem (Duke Nukem, Apogee, 1991)
28. Dante (Devil May Cry, Bandai, 2003)
29. Naruto (Naruto: Konoha Ninpoch, Bandai, 2003)
30. Altair (Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft, 2007)
31. Zelda (The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo, 1986)
32. Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII, Square, 1997)
33. Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong, Nintendo, 1981)
34. The Prince (Prince of Persia, Broderbund, 1989)
35. Ezio (Assassin’s Creed II, Ubisoft, 2009)
36. Leon S (Biohazard/Resident Evil, Capcom, 1996)
37. Ash Ketchum (Pokemon Red/Green, Nintendo, 1996)
38. Guybrush Threepwood (The Secret of Monkey Island, LucasArts, 1990)
39. Spyro (Spyro the Dragon, Universal, 1998)
40. “Ghost??? Riley (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Activision, 2009)
41. Goku (Dragon Daihikyoe, Epoch, 1987)
42. Max Payne (Max Payne, Rockstar, 2001)
43. Jill Valentine (Biohazard/Resident Evil, Capcom, 1996)
44. Princess Peach (Super Mario Bros., Nintendo, 1985)
45. Larry Laffer (Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, Sierra, 1987)
46. Augustus Cole (Gears of War, Microsoft, 2006)
47. Bowser (Super Mario Bros., Nintendo, 1985)
48. Eddie Riggs (Brutal Legend, EA, 2009)
49. Ryu (Street Fighter, Capcom, 1987)
50. Sackboy (LittleBigPlanet, Sony, 2008)

Gritskrieg – End of Line

3DS will miss Santa’s sleigh this year

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

Santa won't be bringin you one for Xmas.

(Reuters) – Nintendo Co Ltd said on Wednesday the launch of its 3D-capable DS handheld game player will miss the busy year-end holiday shopping season, forcing Japan’s leading game machine maker to slash its full-year profit forecast by one-third.

Nintendo will launch the new version of the DS on February 26 in Japan and in March in the United States, by far the biggest market for the game machine maker.

The company trimmed its projection for overall DS sales for the year to March 31 to 23.5 million units from 30 million and lowered its estimate for Wii consoles to 17.5 million machines from 18 million.

“At first we thought it would be desirable to launch the 3DS within the year, so we made our forecasts on that basis. At this point it is clear that if we launch within the year, we will not be able to supply enough units,” Nintendo President Satoru Iwata told an analysts’ conference.

With sales of its DS and Wii fading, Nintendo is relying on the new 3D model to revive profits and help it fend of renewed competition from Sony Corp and Microsoft, whose motion-gaming peripherals will be on the market in time for year-end shoppers to buy.

[Full Article at Reuters.com]

Goldeneye: Ready to kill the scientists again

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

(Gamestop) – The Nintendo 64 shooter Goldeneye 007, a game heralded as pioneering the multiplayer movement, featured a one-shot-kill golden gun. Activision is bringing that gun back in the upcoming altered Wii remake, and along with it will come a golden controller as well.

Activision sent word that it’s planning to release a special Goldeneye 007 Classic Edition bundle that will pack in a copy of the game and a gold-colored Wii Classic Controller Pro. Activision did not announce a price for the bundle, but GameSpot sister site CNET is reporting the bundle will be available for $69.99.

Goldeneye 007 for the Wii will afford gamers a number of control options, including the ability to play using the standard Wii Remote/Nunchuk combination, the point-and-shoot Zapper peripheral, or the aforesaid gamepad.

As for the game, Goldeneye 007 for the Wii will include online multiplayer, a functionality its N64 cousin could not offer. In addition, players will be able to take part in 16 game modes, including Goldeneye 007 N64 favorites Paintball, Melee Only, and You Only Live Twice.

On top of that, players can square off against each other in the game’s adversarial modes, with the roster including eight characters from the revered Bond classic, as well as 40 other unnamed virtual soldiers.

The game is currently in development at Eurocom under the banner of Activision, the publisher that currently holds the license to create James Bond titles. A Nintendo DS version of Goldeneye 007, currently in development at n-Space, will also be released this holiday.

Nintendo jumps for 3D Console

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

(Kotaku.com) – In an interview with Japan’s Nikkei, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has hinted that the company’s next home console may, like the freshly-unveiled 3DS, go 3D.

“If you display a 3D image, the image quality becomes extremely bad, so we’d probably do it with the next system”, he said. “We’re thinking that the timing should be once the 3D television adoption rates crosses the 30% mark. We’re looking at the adoption trends.”

This is a curious comment, as it seems to go against everything Nintendo has stood for over the past decade. The company lagged behind on disc-based media despite “adoption trends”. It has twice passed on true surround sound. It even said “no thank you” to the high definition generation with the lo-fi Wii.

[Full Article at Kotaku.com]

James Bond ‘Goldeneye’ coming to Wii. And only the Wii.

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

We call this the 'poop shoot'.

At Nintendo’s 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo media briefing this morning, Reggie Fils-Aime announced that Goldeneye 007 will arrive exclusively for the Wii this November.

(Gamespot) – A two-minute trailer for the game was shown, revealing that the remake will include updated visuals, four-player split-screen multiplayer, and new game modes. Although the original GoldenEye 007 featured Pierce Brosnan in the leading role, today’s trailer revealed current Quantum of Solace actor Daniel Craig as the leading man.

Goldeneye 007 for the Wii will also include online multiplayer, a functionality its N64 cousin could not offer. In addition, players will be able to take part in 16 game modes, including GoldenEye 007 N64 favorites Paintball, Melee Only, and You Only Live Twice. On top of that, players can square off against each other in the game’s adversarial modes, with the roster including eight characters from the revered Bond classic, as well as 40 other unnamed virtual soldiers.

The game is currently in development at Eurocom under the banner of Activision, the publisher that currently holds the license to create James Bond titles.










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