Gamernode: Latest Wii News

Mario Kart Wii GDC trailer

Just look at those people having fun with the Wii Wheel! Just makes you want to race, no?

Not really...but it does make me really appreciate the gameplay footage, as well as trailers that don't feature human beings playing the game. How about the rest of you - is anyone else sick of looking at these "people having fun" advertisements?

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WiiWare devs need only register and have an office...

Nintendo wanted to make it clear exactly how open a platform the upcoming WiiWare channel will be. The official press release announcing the channel's launch might lead one to belive that it is aimed at established development companies wanting to test new ideas in a low-cost environment.

"Through WiiWare, Nintendo hopes to offer developers a virtual laboratory that serves as a breeding ground for new games, which encourages great ideas that creators always wanted to develop. The combination of low development barriers and unique game experiences found only on Wii should enable developers to try new ideas with lower risk in a quicker, more creative and affordable way."

Since that statement, however, Nintendo has clarified just how accessible WiiWare will be to any upstart developer who wan...

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Nintendo reveals new pay to play Wii service

During the ongoing GDC '08 festivities, Nintendo announced a pay to play service for some upcoming Wi-Fi enabled Wii games.

Dubbed the "Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Pay and Play" service, this new endeavor will surely confuse the gamers that once thought Nintendo would continue to support free online gameplay.

In a presentation, Takashi Aoyama, Nintendo project leader, announced the service at GDC '08 but didn't specify which upcoming games would require a purchase or a price tag for these games.

In effort to distinguish from free titles, the "Pay and Play" games will be identified with a red icon on the game's box instead of the blue Wi-Fi icon.

So to sum it up, the Wii's Wi-Fi Connection (Internet play) will remain free, while additional services or games may have to be paid for. In other wor...

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Phil Harrison: 3rd parties miss 40% of Wii market

Sony's Phil Harrison was also in the mood to talk about Nintendo's Wii console at this year's Game Developer's Conference, during the invite-only "Lunch with the Luminaries." He spoke slightly less favorably than Reggie, however.

Speaking with EA Blueprint's Neil Young, he said that third parties have insurmountable competition on the Wii from Nintendo's first-party software. This effectively limits the percentage of the console's intalled userbase that is available to third parties, according to Harrison.

"Your addressable market is only 40% of the installed base."

The EA exec cited EA's Smarty Pants as evidence to the contrary, which has proven to be successful on the Wii, stating that it was "very easy to build very quickly." He also said that Wii development is "...fundamentally much...

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Reggie says Wii will catch 360 by June

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime is feeling pretty confident about the performance of Nintendo's little white box. Speaking with Bloomberg he said:

"The Wii will surpass the Xbox 360 in total U.S. sales by June, helped by video-game titles including Super Smash Bros. Brawl."

Nintendo stock reached its highest point since January 23rd yesterday, advancing 4.1 percent to JPY 53,300.

There is no doubt that Super Smash Bros. Brawl will help sell Wii consoles this year, but one has to wonder exactly how many games are in the average Wii owner's library as opposed to 360 owners'. Does the Wii measure up in the software department?

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Mario Kart Wii uses GCN, Classic controllers, too

For those of you who have been worrying that the tilt controls of the upcoming Mario Kart Wii (a la ExciteTruck) might not be your cup of tea, fear not! According to a 1UP preview, the game will feature three other control schemes for the fundamentalist in you.

Besides the Wii wheel players can choose to use a Wiimote/Nunchuk combo, the Wii classic controller, or a Gamecube controller. Just as with Super Smash Bros Brawl, Nintendo hasn't forgotten their hardcore fanbase - those grown accustomed to the controls of past games and would rather not make the switch.

There were some prior clues that this was going to happen, but now the proof is in the pudding. I'm pleased to read this, because I simply don't know which control setup I would like the most. It's always nice to have options. Do...

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Pandemic loves the Wii. No plans yet

Recently acquired Pandemic (by EA) is hard at work on their new Mercenaries 2 and Saboteur games, both being featured on present gen sytems. Even though Pandemkc president, Josh Resnick, has no plans at the moment for releasing games on the Nintendo Wii, he tells Next-Gen that he "loves" the platform.

"Pandemic has had a long-standing tradition of being multiplatform, and we're going to continue to do that," Resnick told Next-Gen in a recent interview. "Other than that, we don't have any other big announcements. But we love the platform."

He mentions details on development for the Nintendo Wii--that it won't just be poor ports from 360 or PS3 titles. "If and when we start working on [Wii] we're not going to make the mistake of just trying to port things over to it. We're going to do someth...

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February 18th Virtual Console releases

Well look what we have here. This week's Virtual Console update features two excellent classic gaming experiences in Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom for the NES and Phantasy Star II for the Sega Genesis. Today, my Wii gets a pat on the controller ports for a job well done.

Ninja Gaiden III is the final entry in the original Ninja Gaiden Trilogy, and although it doesn't quite match up to the second game in the series, it is still a fine (and difficult) action game. Phantasy Star II, on the other hand, was the first 16-bit addition to the classic franchise, and is considered by many to be among the best games of all time. If you appreciate these sorts of games, either one of today's releases is worth checking out.

From the press release:

Ninja Gaiden™ III: The Ancient S...

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Can PS3 and Wii sales overtake X360 sales in 2008?...

I usually don't heed what analysts or research firms predict regarding the gaming industry because real results can change at the drop of a hat. But they always tend to grow into good conversation pieces so with that said, research firm iSuppli released some facts with Reuters on how PS3 and Wii sales will overtake Xbox 360 sales by the end of 2008.

According to iSuppli, worldwide sales of the PS3 are expected to hit 10 million this year, while worldwide sales of the Wii and Xbox 360 will hit 12.2 million and 7.5 million respectively.

While the PS3 will appear as the underdog and overtake the Xbox 360, analysts are suspecting that the Wii will be the runaway success this year - at this stage, the Wii will hit 30.2 million units. In the month of January, the Wii was the best-selling console ...

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Nintendo to US: Please tell other countries to sto...

Today, Nintendo of America has asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to encourage governments around the world to take a more aggressive stance against the piracy of Nintendo's games and systems. They filed it under a "Special 301" process, which is when the U.S. Trade Representative solicits input from the public to find areas of concern.

Recently Nintendo has been working with governments to crack down on piracy (their stings in several countries are evident of that). According to Nintendo of America's senior director of anti-piracy, Jodi Daughtery, Big N estimates that "...in 2007, Nintendo, together with its publishers and developers, suffered nearly $975 million USD worldwide in lost sales as a result of piracy."

No word yet on what the Trade Representative will say in res...

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Smash Bros Brawl sells 1 million in 11 days

Hotcakes, what?

Super Smash Bros Brawl has become the fastest selling Wii game to date, reaching the "1 million sold" mark in just 11 days on Japanese store shelves. More precisely, Reuters reports that the game has shifted 1.08 million copies, citing numbers given by Japanese magazine publisher Enterbrain.

It took Nintendo's Wii Fit seven weeks to reach that milestone, said Enterbrain. Wii Sports required 11 weeks to do the same.

One has to wonder just how quickly the game will sell in North America, where Smash Bros. is arguably a much hotter property than in Japan.

Whatever the outcome, let this serve as a reminder to Nintendo: give fans what they want, and they will give you lots of money.

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February 11th Virtual Console releases

Sometimes Virtual Console releases have a common theme between them, and sometimes they don't.  Today, it's obvious that they go together like peas and carrots.  One centers around farming, and the other is a fantasy shooter featuring a badass knight in magical armor who blasts elemental magic at his enemies.  So, today's theme is clearly the elements.

Harvest Moon for the Super Nintendo was the starting point for Natsume's classic franchise, which hasn't taken much of a break since it got started in 1996. Lords of Thunder takes the shooter genre and gives it a whole new look. There is nary a reference to outer space in this game, but there is a flying knight who's on a quest to...you know...destroy evil, and stuff. Both are great games, and definitely worth a look.

Read on for the officia...

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Use your Gamecube controller in Mario Kart Wii

Earlier, I reported on Famitsu magazine's latest bundle of new details about Nintendo's second big Wii title of this year, Mario Kart Wii.

If you missed it, or are to lazy to go back to that story, then here's the scoop: Mario Kart Wii will feature 32 tracks, 12-player online multiplayer, and boost-granting mid-air tricks.

What wasn't mentioned in the other story is that players will apparently be able to use Gamecube controllers to steer their mascot-stuffed go-karts. This revealing scan from the pages of Famitsu shows a big, green A button and small, red B button in the game's on-screen menu. Being that the Wii-mote and nunchuk are made of white and clear plastics, I think it is safe to assume that these indicators refer to the colorful Gamecube controller, which is a nice option. Var...

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Spielberg game named, due in May - first trailer i...

The first game to come out from the epic duo of Electronic Arts and Steven Spielberg is slated to hit shelves in May, and the two announced yesterday that it will now unfortunately be known as Boom Blox. Boom Blox is an exclusive puzzle game for the Wii that will have "more than 300 levels, a cast of more than thirty wacky characters, and an easy-to-use in-game editor."

Here's more info on the game from EA's press release:

"Fun for kids and the entire family, BOOM BLOX offers action-packed interactive activities that takes Wii play to a new level of creativity and fun with single player, co-op, and versus gameplay. Players can experience the visceral gameplay - perfectly suited for the Wii's interactive motion-sensitive controls - through brain-twisting challenges. They can interact with ent...

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No online worlds for the Wii

Rumors once floated on the internet of a MMO game based on Animal Crossing. It has the qualities of a MMO, but how exciting could it really be? Nintendo president Satoru Iwata was questioned recently about if any type of online gaming for the Wii will be released in the future and here is what he said.

"The virtual-world services out there now still aren't at a place where we'd like to join in, and certainly not to the point that we'd want to jump into competition with everybody else. We'd rather focus on doing things that nobody else would do."

He continues to say, "so even if we were to make a virtual-world-like product, we'd be sure to make it something that nobody would call it a product similar to another company's offering." What is with Iwata and this infatuation with these"gimicky t...

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Mario Kart Wii to have 32 tracks, mid-air tricks

That Famitsu magazine sure is a treasure trove of information today! In addition to our earlier report regarding the cast of Street Fighter IV, the Japanese publication also has quite a few new details regarding Nintendo's Mario Kart Wii.

According to Famitsu, the game will include 32 tracks, 16 of which will be brand new. The rest will be remakes of courses that have appeared in previous Mario Kart games throughout the years.  Players will be able to race on them in the game's 12-player online multiplayer mode, as well as in 4-player split-screen match-ups. Nintendo is even including the option to play as your very own custom Mii avatar.

Probably the most interesting news is that Mario Kart Wii will also feature...mid-air stunts!? These will apparently join the good old-fashioned power ...

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SuperVillain working on two Wii games?

According to the folks over at Kotaku, SuperVillain Studios may very well be hard at work on two unnamed Wii titles, at least one of which they hope to have on store shelves by the end of the year.

The subject matter of the two titles is currently unknown, but judging by the developer's past efforts, I feel it's safe to assume that one of them will be some sort of downhill bandicoot racing sim, set in a medieval-themed fantasy world (they did work on Crash of the Titans, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, and Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony, after all).

The company has reportedly been increasing their numbers lately, building the manpower necessary to complete these two projects in a timely manner.

Whatever these mystery games turn out to be, GN will be sure to keep you posted.

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February 4th Virtual Console releases

After last week's solo show, Nintendo's Virtual Console is back to deliver two new classic games to the gaming community. This time around, we have an anti-terrorist commando squad in an on-rails cursor-based FPS and a traditional things-fall-from-the-sky-into-a-box-while- players-try-to-manipulate-them-properly-in-order-to- succeed sort of puzzle game that adds a few new strategic elements to the formula. Neither game is exceptionally breathtaking, but if you've got Wii points to burn, feel free to do some downloading.

Read on for the official descriptions from Nintendo:

OPERATION WOLF™ (NES®, 1 player, Rated E10+ for Use of Tobacco and Violence, 500 points): A group of desperate terrorists is keeping hostages in their jungle fortress. As a member of the elite tactical squad Operat...

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Smash Bros Brawl final smash montage

If you're having trouble waiting for Super Smash Bros Brawl to hit the streets, then the following video won't exactly make your task any easier. This four-and-a-half minute clip is a collection of final smash maneuvers, as performed by over a dozen of the game's combatants. All of these attacks are pretty impressive, but a few of them seem exceptionally deadly (i.e. the Samus Aran gigantic beam of death). Enjoy.

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Rock Band confirmed for Wii

Crammed within the EA's back-to-back news bulletins about game delays and financial results was the brief word that Rock Band will be heading to Wii. While a release date wasn't given, John Riccitiello, CEO of EA, hinted at a "coming launch" of the Wii version of Rock Band, so it could be sooner than we think.

Apparently this was hinted back in April 2007 when Alex Rigopulos, CEO of Harmonix, hinted that Rock may be heading to Wii.

At the time, he said, "We will, at some time, bring Rock Band to every platform. I think the Wiimote is something that holds enormous promise."

Interestingly enough, a Rock Band-like game is already heading to Wii called, appropriately enough, Wii Music. Unfortunately, it's heading to Japan sometime this year so a worldwide release may be further off than Rock Ban...

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