Monthly Archives: November 2009

Nintendo Wii: Major UK Department Store Selling One Wii Every Minute

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The Nintendo Wii is currently flying off shelves at major UK department store, John Lewis.

The retail outlet has claimed in a recent press release that its shifting one Nintendo Wii console per minute in the run up to Christmas.

Department store, John Lewis has announced that it is selling one Nintendo Wii every minute as customers get ready for digital family gaming this Christmas.

Helen Keppel-Compton, head of consumer electronics for John Lewis says, “In a recent John Lewis Christmas study, 75% of respondents said that computer games proved the most popular with children beyond Christmas and last year sales of computer games soared a staggering 500%. The Wii is a great way of getting the whole family up and active, which is also reflected in our top three best selling games; Sports Resort and Motion, Winter Sports 2009 and Mario Kart and Wheel.”

- John Lewis, Press Release

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Nintendo DSi LL: Japanese Gamers Won Over By Nintendo DSi LL

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Nintendo’s revised edition of the Nintendo DSi has gone down a storm with Japanese gamers as sales of the Nintendo DSi LL topped 100,553 units during its first couple of days on sale in Japan.

Weekly figures from tracking firm Media Create now show three different versions of Nintendo’s popular DS handheld: DSi LL, DSi, and the DS Lite. Total sales for the DS line during the week were 137,674 units. The DSi LL figures align closely with numbers recently released by research firm Enterbrain.

The DSi LL handily topped sales of PlayStation 3, which have been solid since the console’s price reduction and hardware form factor revamp. PS3 led hardware charts in the two week prior to this week. Last week, PS3 and its handheld counterpart PSP together led the hardware charts.

- Gamesutra

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Nintendo: Eiji Aonuma Sorry For Zelda Water Temple

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Ocarina of Time creator Eiji Aonuma has offered a heart felt apology for the games notoriously troublesome Water Temple.

“The Water Temple in the Ocarina of Time was notorious for being very tough to conquer. I am most sorry that it was not easy for you to put on and take off the heavy boots; that all the time you had to visit the inventory.”

“I am very sorry about that. I should have made it much easier to switch to the heavy boots.”

- Eiji Aonuma

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Nintendo Wii: Link Given The Ability To Fly In Zelda Wii?

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Eiji-Aonuma

Zelda series director Eiji Aonuma recently sat down with British news publication The Guardian and provided them with some interesting information regarding the next Zelda title for the Nintendo Wii.

“I have an eight-year-old son myself at home, and quite recently he started playing Phantom Hourglass for DS, because when the software first hit the market he was too young. When he started playing with the boat, I told him: ‘In the next Zelda, you are going to be able to ride on the train.’ He answered: ‘OK, Dad, first boat, and then train? Surely next time, Link is going to fly in the sky … ‘”

At this point Aonuma paused, grining saying: “I just don’t know. If many people make many speculations … some of them might be correct. Right now, I have to refrain from commenting on anything.”

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Nintendo: Super Mario 64 Used To Have A Multiplayer Mode

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During a lengthy Q&A session on Nintendo’s official website Shigeru Miyamoto revealed that the critically acclaimed Mario 64 initially had a multiplayer mode, but it was sadly scrapped due to hardware restraints.

Iwata: Ever since Mario Bros., you’ve had your heart set on making a multiplayer Mario game. You’ve tried each time, but it’s never quite come together… Even with Mario 64, it started with Mario and Luigi running around together, didn’t it?

Miyamoto: That’s right. The screen was split and they went into the castle separately. When they meet in the corridor, I was incredibly happy! (laughs) Then there was also the mode where the camera is fixed and we see Mario running away, steadily getting smaller and smaller.

Iwata: Yes, that’s right.

Miyamoto: That was a remnant of an experiment we did where Mario and Luigi would run away from each other but you could still see them both. But we were unable to pull it off…

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Nintendo: Shigeru Miyamoto Says “I Wouldn’t Get A Job At Nintendo Now Days”

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Shigeru Miyamoto has confessed to Edge Magazine that he doesn’t believes in this day and age that he would get accepted at Nintendo with his current academic qualifications.

“Nintendo has become one of those companies that graduates from colleges and good universities really want to work for.”

“Because of that, the competition’s really become so fierce for positions. And that means that a lot of the recent recruits for Nintendo have tended to have the higher degree from the prestigious colleges and universities and whatnot.

“I often say to Mr Iwata: ‘If I was applying for a job here today, I, with my actual college degree, would probably not have been employed by Nintendo!’”

- Shigeru Miyamoto

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Nintendo Wii: Super Mario Kart Imminent For Wii Virtual Console

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The release for the original Super Mario Kart is drawing ever-closer, with Nintendo stating the title will be available on the Virtual Console next week.

Pilotwings and Super Smash Bros from the Nintendo 64 are also cited by Nintendo as coming soon to the Wii Virtual Console. Both of these exceptional titles are expected to arrive just before Christmas time.

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Nintendo: Miyamoto Says Not Everything Needs To Be In 3D

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Whilst the majority of next generation titles have embraced 3D, Shigeru Miyamoto still believes that two dimensions can still provide the player with equally as engaging game worlds.

I don’t think everything needs to be 3D, or that just because we’re seeing more 2D games now, that everything’s going to shift back to 2D. I think that what’s going on is that people are realizing the benefits of a 3D game, and at the same time, remembering what the benefits of 2D games were. When going to 2D, you need the courage to not be so attached to visual appearance of the games and to really pursue the gameplay experience.

- Shigeru Miyamoto

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