Monthly Archives: May 2011

Nintendo DS: Nintendo Of America Officially Slash The Nintendo DS Lite Down To $99

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Nintendo of America has announced that it’s set to slash the recommended retail price of the Nintendo DS Lite to a mere $99 effective from June 5th. Nintendo of America also announced that along with the price cut they’re launching new red packaged Mario titles, making it easier than ever for consumers to identify these hit titles in stores. The Mario games include New Super Mario Bros, Mario Kart DS , Super Mario 64 DS, Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! and Mario Party DS. Anyone thinking about picking up a Nintendo DS Lite for this incredible price?

“From the moment it launched, Nintendo DS Lite hit a sweet spot for consumers in terms of value, experience and fun. This new price point will introduce Nintendo DS Lite to even more consumers, and the new red packaging will make it easy for them to find their favorite Mario titles.”

- Nintendo president, Reggie Fils Aime

Source: Nintendo of America press release

 

 

Nintendo: Japan Gets Super Cool Special Edition Nintendo eShop Cards

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Japanese consumers can now get their hands on some rather cool special edition prepaid eShop cards which feature Mario and Zelda related designs. Twitter user UKey566 posted the frankly awesome designs on Twitter last night for the entire world to see. No word as yet whether we will be getting similar designs here in the West. What other special edition eShop card designs would you like to see?

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Thanks to @admyoyatsu for first photo

Nintendo Wii 2: Leaked Specifications List For The Nintendo Wii 2 (Project Cafe)

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An investigative sleuth over at the Neogaf forums has uncovered what appears to be a ‘final specifications’ document for Nintendo’s forthcoming console which is currently dubbed Project Cafe. Whilst it’s highly likely that the specification sheet is a fake, it’s not unusual for confidential information to leak out this close to E3. What do you guys and girls think, legit or just plain fake?

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Nintendo Wii 2: Ubisoft Believe That The Wii 2 (Project Cafe) Will Be A Huge Success For Nintendo

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Ubisoft’s UK manager Rob Cooper has told online gaming publication MCV that the company is extremely excited about what Nintendo has to offer with it’s new console. Cooper believes that the console will not only deliver bucketfuls of innovation but will also be a huge success for the company. Nintendo will be showcasing their new home console which is currently referred to as Project Cafe at E3.

“What you always get with Nintendo is innovation, with consumers at the heart of the technologies they create, which will always result in huge success and I’m more than confident that Wii 2 will live up to this.”

“Never underestimate Nintendo and their capacity to look at gaming in new and innovative ways. I expect to be wowed.”

- Rob Cooper, Ubisoft

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Nintendo 3DS: Analyst Believes That Zelda Ocarina Of Time 3D ‘Will Provide A Significant Boost To The 3DS’

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We all know that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will be an immensely popular hit on the Nintendo 3DS. It’s the game that we’re all waiting for, even though the majority of us have played the original on the Nintendo 64 back in 1998. Analyst Jesse Divnich, EEDAR’s Vice President of Capital Research & Communications also agrees with this and accordingly gives his two cents worth.

“There isn’t a strong overlap between the handheld and home console markets. Very few consumers forgo buying one type of game over another. I don’t have any cause for concerns for Zelda as it faces little competition within the handheld sector.

“Correct, the summer months are typically when consumers take vacations and the June release date for Zelda is surely not coincidental. I believe Zelda will provide a significant boost to the 3DS platform, both in awareness and in hardware sales.”

- Jesse Divnich

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Nintendo Wii: The Last Story Coming To Europe According To Nintendo Rep

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RPG fans should be in the mood for rejoicing this afternoon as a representative for Nintendo Europe has accidentally let slip that the critically acclaimed Wii RPG The Last Story is headed to Europe. Whilst there’s currently no more information other than ‘it’s coming’, we should hear plently more talk about localising the title for the West during Nintendo’s E3 press conference which begins at 9 a.m. Pacific time on Tuesday, June 7.

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Nintendo 3DS: Zelda Ocarina Of Time 3D Has Navi Alerting Players To Take A Break

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Nintendo are adamant that players should take a break during the epic Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, so much so that they’ve decided to give Navi the task to inform players to step away from their console and do something else. Navi still gives out the occasional helpful hint during the game but according to Nintendo Power she appears to be fixated on telling eager gamers to take a rest break.

“…There are so many clear improvements in the 3DS release that it’s tough to quibble, but I could do without the extra comments from Link’s fairy companion Navi, whose distracting alerts were already borderline annoying in the original game. While she does sometimes give useful hints, more often then not she interrupts the game to repeatedly suggest that you take a break from playing or go watch a hint movie. Turning to her for advice when I’m hopelessly stuck only to get great tips like ‘Keep Moving!’ or ‘The barrier is blocking the door, there must be some way of opening it’ is like pouring salt into a wound.”

- Nintendo Power extract

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Nintendo 3DS: Sony Are Cutting Costs With PSP2 (NGP) To Compete With Nintendo 3DS

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According to industry rumours floating around the Internet Sony are preparing to cut back on the entry level specifications for its successor to the PlayStation Portable to enable it to compete against Nintendo’s 3DS with regards to pricing. According to a French site Sony has basically halved the RAM in its Next Generation Portable and has removed the internal flash memory altogether. Do you think Sony has a chance at cracking Nintendo’s market-share with its forthcoming Next Generation Portable?

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Nintendo Wii 2: Nintendo Wii 2 (Project Cafe) May Have An HD Virtual Console

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It sounds like a given but according to Telewatcher the Virtual Console on Project Cafe will feature an array of HD remastered titles. Whilst this HD update won’t apply to all Virtual Console games, certain high profile titles will receive an HD upgrade. According to the source you will be able to transfer your existing Virtual Console purchases over to Project Cafe but if you want a high definition version of a game you’ve already purchased you’ll have to buy the said game again. Do you believe we will get to play classics such as Mario 64 in HD?

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Nintendo: Analysts Discuss Nintendo’s Failed Online Strategy And Project Cafe

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We are all aware that Nintendo’s online offerings have been lacking in comparison to Sony’s PlayStation Network and Microsofts Xbox Live but will Nintendo be able to set things right with Project Cafe? Well, a number of games industry analysts have grouped together to discuss such a subject. Here’s what they have to say with regards to Nintendo’s online offerings and what we can expect from Project Cafe.

“Nintendo’s online strategy to date has been terrible. This is where Nintendo needs to completely turn around. Nintendo cannot afford to be last in online. DLC is necessary, but on its own is not the solution. I don’t think following the App Store is a good strategy at all. Apple’s approach is a volume game and a race to the bottom — quantity not quality. Dedicated handhelds and video game consoles have got to re-invent online gaming. Angry Birds is fine for the mainstream and priced for it. Hardcore gamers deserve better and won’t get it unless they pay for it.” — M2 Research analyst Billy Pidgeon.

“Nintendo has completely whiffed online, and I’m not sure if they will ever get it right. It’s ridiculous to speculate about when they will wake up and seize the opportunity, they appear years away.” — Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter.

“I don’t necessarily believe the mainstream market has opened itself up to DLC quite yet. It is going to take some time for the mainstream culture to accept and be open to the idea of DLC. I don’t necessarily believe any type of level based expansion pack would be successful. Of course, this has a lot to do with how many hurdles a network throws in front of a customer to make a DLC purchase happen. Simply put, for DLC to be effective among the mainstream, the purchase and install process has to be seamless.” — EEDAR’s Jesse Divnich.

“In several Parks Associates consumer studies, we asked consumers if their consoles are connected to the Internet and how they use their connected consoles. Unsurprisingly, the Wii has always trailed the other two. I think that’s a huge missed opportunity that would generate a lot of revenue if Nintendo does it right. The company needs to generate interest and make it user-friendly. On the positive side, more and more consumers are used to the idea of downloading apps on their phones and tablets. That helps with selling any type of digital content, including downloadable content on consoles.” — Parks Associates’ Pietro Macchiarella.

“Nintendo has had a history of making proprietary planned obsolete services and products. They like to see their competitors make mistakes before they jump into emerging technologies. The benefit of the pathetic Wii online experience is that they have not had to deal with a hacker attack like their Japanese counterpart, Sony. They are a lot like Apple in the sense that they wait for their competitors to stumble before they go in for the kill. The fact that Wii was able to outsell both Xbox 360 and PS3 without a viable online strategy is an achievement in my opinion. Although it has undoubtedly limited the longevity of the system. I am not sure if DLC is in Mario’s future but the potential for Pokemon or Nintendogs DLC is unlimited. As long as they can control it, I am sure DLC is in the cards for some first party Project Cafe titles.” — Asif Khan of Panoptic Management Consultants.

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