Monthly Archives: February 2010

Nintendo Wii: Sony Says There’s A Lack Of Innovation On Wii

Posted on by
6

SCEA Senior Vice President of Publisher Relations, Rob Dyer, has attacked third party developers on the Nintendo Wii stating that there’s a “lack of innovative new IP coming out on that platform.”

“What publishers have said is they’re not going to spend the resources on Wii… In my job, we compete against Microsoft and Nintendo, and we’re competing for resources. So when I walk into a publisher, I ask, ‘Where are you guys pushing your resources?’ In the past, it was ‘Look how hot the Wii is,’ or ‘Look how hot the DS is,’ and ‘We should put resources there.’ They did that and realized, ‘You know what, third-party product just doesn’t sell on that platform.’ So now they’re taking those resources, coming back to us and saying, ‘Sony we’re going to be able to provide you with that exclusive content,’ or ‘We’re going to put more engineers on it and figure out to maximize the Blu-ray and get more out of PS3.’ That’s what we’re seeing now.”

“I don’t even have to fight for their hearts and minds; I just show them the TRST data with regards to how many top 10 titles are third-party titles on the Wii, or how many top 10 titles are third-party titles on the DS. Not many. It’s not a hard story to sell, and they get that. Unless they’ve got a particular franchise that’s worked well on the Wii, you don’t see a lot of innovative new IP coming out on that platform.”

- Rob Dyer, Sony

Source

Nintendo Wii: Analyst Says Wii Needs “An Immediate” Price Cut

Posted on by
10

Mike Hickey, an analyst for Janco Partners has stated in his latest equity research newsletter that Nintendo need to cut the price of the Wii immediately, due to Sony and Microsoft entering the motion control space this fall.

“We believe Nintendo needs to cut the price of their console from $200 to $150 immediately, as they should establish as meaningful of an installed base as possible before the Natal and Arc are introduced.”

“We believe they also need to generate strong hardware sales momentum into their competitors release or face the draconian consumer perception of the Wii having a dramatically reduced entertainment value proposition over a faded technology innovation; Rock Band anyone?”.

“We expect 3rd party publishers could benefit significantly over the emerging casual cycle, as their prior experience at the casual market was often tortuous from Nintendo’s software domination.”

“The casual hardware extensions from both Sony and Microsoft will likely drive both additional hardware and software sales, for casual and non-gaming mass market opportunities. We expect a potential up-migration from a portion of Nintendo’s Wii market, as many new gaming console households chose to upscale their game entertainment experience, enjoy a broader array of multi-media options and experience “the new” casual gaming opportunities.”

- Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey

Source

Nintendo DS: Key Developers Have Nintendo DS2 Development Kits

Posted on by
9

French gaming site, GameKult, claims that a number of key developers have started receiving development kits for the next version of the Nintendo DS.

Whilst I wouldn’t put my money on news from this site being entirely accurate, respected gaming publication CVG have also published a similar story which further backs up these claims.

Source

Nintendo: Nintendo Magazine Says E3 2010 “Better Than Last Two”

Posted on by
14

British gaming publication, NGamer, has stated on Twitter that Nintendo’s forthcoming press conference at E3 2010 in June will be “better than their last two E3′s glued together.“

Whilst the gaming publication hasn’t stated exactly why they believe E3 2010 will be superior to the last two years, common sense would suggest that it might have something to do with Nintendo showcasing the next Zelda title.

Source

Nintendo: Rare NES Game Sells For An Incredible $13,105

Posted on by
8

An unsuspecting mother from North Carolina recently put her Nintendo Entertainment System on Internet auction site eBay starting at 99 cents, a couple of days later and the end auction finished at a impressive $13,105.

The reason behind this whopping price obviously wasn’t the NES console itself, but a game the console came with titled Stadium Events, which is believed to be one of the rarest games released in North America.

Source

Nintendo Wii: Nintendo Won’t Confirm Whether WiiWare Demo’s Will Return

Posted on by
2

Nintendo have unfortunately confirmed that they will no longer be giving away WiiWare game demo’s.

Whilst Nintendo has officially ceased producing WiiWare demo’s, the company has admitted that there’s a slight possibility of them producing WiiWare demo’s sometime in the near future.

In November last year Nintendo was testing out demos in the shop channels. Allowing people to get a taste of such titles like World of Goo, Pokemon Rumble and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord for free.

These demos have now been stopped and Nintendo has confirmed that the demo, demo has ended. When asked if WiiWare demos would make a return Nintendo said; “We’re looking at our results and deciding our next steps.”

Source

Nintendo Wii: New Super Mario Bros Outsells Modern Warfare 2 – NPD

Posted on by
13

Marketing research firm NPD has revealed that New Super Mario Bros Wii has outsold a plethora of top titles including the critically acclaimed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in the United States during January.

1. New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Nintendo Wii – 656,700
2. Mass Effect 2 – Xbox 360 – 572,100
3. Wii Fit Plus W/ Balance Board – Nintendo Wii – 555,700
4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – Xbox 360 – 326,700
5. Mario Kart W/ Wheel – Nintendo Wii – 310,900
6. Wii Sports Resort W/ Wii Motion Plus – Nintendo Wii – 297,600
7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – PlayStation 3 – 259,000
8. Army of Two: The 40th Day – Xbox 360 – 246,500
9. Just Dance – Nintendo Wii – 191,900
10. Darksiders – Xbox 360 – 171,200

- NPD software sales figures for January 2010

Source

Nintendo DS: Two New Fifth Generation Pokémon Revealed

Posted on by
5

Japanese manga magazine CoroCoro has leaked the first images of  fifth generation Pokémon set to star in the next iteration of the Pokémon franchise on Nintendo DS.

The two newly revealed Pokémon characters by CoroCoro magazine are called Zorua and Zoroark. Whilst little has been revealed about the actual characters themselves, the Official Nintendo Magazine has offered its own insight:

Let’s start with Zorua as it is Zoroark in its original state. In one scan (the anime artwork) it’s a blue-eyed evil fox but in another its eyes appear to be green. It has a little red tuft of hair on its head and red feet. Although the dark type Pokémon is described as an evil fox, it looks quite cute and is just 2.3ft tall and weighs 12.5kg.

However, when it evolves it becomes a different beast as it changes into Zoroark, another dark type Pokémon. The little tuft of red hair becomes a massive mane that’s tied into a ponytail. Zorua’s round blue eyes now look angry and while the unevolved Pokémon had a cheeky smile on its face, Zoroark is frowning as if it means business. Its also sprouted claws. If Zorua is described as an angry fox what does that make Zoroark?

Well it’s a monster fox! Unlike Zorua it appears to be able to stand on two feet and its 5.3 feet tall and weighs 12.5kg.

- ONM

Source

Nintendo: Nintendo Media Summit Is Incoming February 24th

Posted on by
8

The hype engine has started churning as Nintendo have announced a special Media Summit where the company is expected to show off forthcoming titles for both the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS.

The Media Summit will take place in San Francisco on February 24th and will be a chance for the company to showcase its biggest titles for 2010, such as the forthcoming Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid and possibly the next iteration of the Zelda franchise for Nintendo Wii, and much more.

Source

Nintendo Wii: Famed RPG Developer Level 5 Working On Unannounced Wii Game

Posted on by
3

Level 5 president, Akihiro Hino, has announced that his critically acclaimed team of developers are working on titles for both the Nintendo Wii and the PlayStation 3.

Whilst no information has been revealed thus far on either of the unannounced titles by Level 5, further information is more than likely to follow in the coming months, so say tuned.

Source