Tag Archives: Wii

Nintendo Wins Appeal To Keep Selling Wii In US

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The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington has told Nintendo that it can continue selling the original Wii in the United States. Motiva had claimed that the Wii had infringed two of its patents for a system to track a user’s position and body movement. Three judges stated that Motiva’s main motive was to win damages or a settlement, not to license or make products incorporating the company’s patents.  A lawyer for Motiva said the ruling was unfortunate, but they will take the claim to a district court.

“Motiva’s litigation was targeted at financial gains, not at encouraging adoption of Motiva’s patented technology. There is simply no reasonable likelihood that, after successful litigation against Nintendo, Motiva’s patented technology would have been licensed by partners who would have incorporated it.”

- Circuit Judge, Sharon Prost

Thanks, Ian S

 

Capcom Has No Plans To Re-Release Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars

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Published by Capcom, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars was released way back in 2008 on the Wii, and, nowadays, not all retailers sell copies of the fighting game. Therefore, Capcom’s Christian Svensson was recently asked whether there’s a chance the game sees a re-release, either physically at retail, or digitally via the Nintendo eShop. Svensson replied by saying that, as far as he’s concerned, there are no plans of the matter.

Is there any chance of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom being re-released either as a download for the E-shop or on disc? I know the rights have lapsed, but if there is a demand for it, will you consider it?

Svensson: There’s no plans I’m aware of and as you point it, it would mean Capcom Japan amending the prior agreement or creating a new one as well as potentially new development, unless Nintendo at some point has plans to release Wii ISOs digitally (which I’m not aware of happening).

Would you purchase Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, if it were released on the Nintendo eShop for Wii U? Do you think there’s enough demand for it? Let us know in the comments below.

Nintendo Sends Message To Wii Owners To ‘Discover’ Wii U

wii message marketingNintendo has really started to get the ball rolling on their Wii U marketing campaign as they have begun targeting current Wii owners and giving them a larger than life hint that the Wii U is ‘an entirely new system’. Wii owners were struck by the message pictured above to find that Nintendo is really hammering it home by implying that their system is out of date. With many of the Wii’s online channels going dark in June, is it time to let your Wii system hibernate too?

Monster Hunter Tri Wii Servers Shutting Down Today

monster hunter triCapcom confirmed it would be shutting down its Wii servers for the popular series Monster Hunter Tri earlier this month. Today, the online servers will cease to exist after launching in 2010.  Though many fans may have updated to the 3DS and Wii U versions of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, it will be the last day to wave goodbye to the online predecessor.

Nintendo Launches Three New Family Commercials For Wii U

Nintendo has launched three new commercials in the US to advertise the Wii U as, once again, a family console. Despite what Michael Pachter said, Nintendo has decided to market the Wii U as a ‘family orientated’ console, just like its predecessor. 

The first commercial, featured above, sees the Vanorsby family playing on the console and saying ‘we gotta upgrade’. The second and third families skate along the same line, exploring the main differences of the GamePad against the Wii Remote, emphasising that you can play both on and off-screen. The Haskins family even says that when you hold the GamePad it’s much ‘easier’, providing smoother game play. Do you think the new commercials will help bring in the family market and create a success similar to the Wii? 

There’s A Game-Freezing Bug In Pandora’s Tower; Here’s A Solution For It

pandora's_towerWii role-playing game Pandora’s Tower was released a couple days ago, on April 16th, in North America. The North American copy of the game apparently has a game-freezing bug, which, if encountered, forces players to shut down their Wii consoles. Courtesy of Destructoid, below you’ll find an explanation of the bug and what you can do to avoid it.

The Bug:

After Tower 13 opens, you’ll be unable to return to Towers 11 or 12. When you choose either level from the stage select menu, the game will lock up at the loading screen and you will have to hold the power button on the console to force shutdown. The game will also freeze if you try to enter 11 or 12 from the side doors at the base of Tower 13 rather than from the stage select menu.

The Solution:

The game will refuse to load Towers 11 or 12 until you visit Tower 13 at least once, but as I said above, simply entering 11 or 12 via the Tower 13 base is not enough. You have to step through one of the doors leading to the Tower 13 outer wall staircase first; once outside, you can use the Shard of Divinity item to teleport back to the Observatory. Now you should be able to enter 11 or 12 from the stage select menu without locking the game.

To confirm if your visit to Tower 13 was registered, highlight its entry on the stage select menu. If a preview image of the Tower 13 environment appears, it means you’ve been there at least once. Conversely, if no preview image appears, it means you have not.

Again, here are the steps:

  1. Choose Tower 13 from the stage select menu.
  2. Enter one of the doors leading to the Tower 13 outer wall staircase.
  3. Use a Shard of Divinity to teleport back to the Observatory.
  4. Towers 11 and 12 should be accessible from the stage select menu now.

There may be other methods, though I haven’t tested anything else yet. One other possible method is stepping out to the outer wall, going back inside via the same door, then trying to open either side door leading to 12 or 13. This alternative would be useful if you don’t have a Shard of Divinity in your inventory, but again, I’ve yet to confirm its effectiveness.

Once you’ve visited Tower 13, you can enter 12 or 13 at your leisure. However, should you have completed the game once already and chosen to reload a past chapter instead of reloading from a save point, you’ll have to repeat these steps.

Nintendo Of America Also Discontinuing Select Online Services For Wii

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Nintendo of America has announced that it plans to discontinue a number of select online services for the original Wii in North America. The news comes after Nintendo Australia, Nintendo Europe and Nintendo Japan announced that they were doing the exact same thing. Here are the channels which Nintendo will be closing down, effective from June 28th.

• Forecast Channel

• News Channel

• Everybody Votes Channel

• Nintendo Channel

• Check Mii Out Channel

• Data exchange between Wii friends on WiiConnect24*

*Wii message exchanges via Wii Message Board, Mii exchanges via Mii Channel, and exchanges of messages or data in some game titles will no longer be possible.

Following the discontinuation, the above services will not be available even if they are started up on the Wii menu. However, services other than those mentioned above, such as the automatic receipt of “Today’s Accomplishments” on the Wii Message Board and the Wii Shop Channel are unaffected and can continue to be used.

Thanks, Ahmad

Nintendo Discontinuing Select Online Services For Wii

nintendo-wii-redNintendo of Australia and Japan has announced they will be terminating a select number of online services from June 28 for the Wii. Following suit, North America and Europe has since confirmed they will be closing down the channels listed here. The full statement from Nintendo can be found below:

We at Nintendo sincerely thank you for your continued patronage of our company’s products. We would like to inform you that a portion of the online services offered through the Wii console will be discontinued from 28th June 2013. We apologise to those of you currently using these services.

The affected applications are as follows:

- Nintendo Channel
- News Channel
- Forecast Channel
- Everybody Votes Channel
- Mii Contest Channel
- Data exchange with Wii Friends via WiiConnect24*

* Exchange of Wii messages on the Wii Message Board, exchange of Mii characters on the Mii Channel and message/data exchange within some games will be disabled.

From 28th June 2013, the above services will no longer be available even if they are started up from the Wii Menu. However, services other than those mentioned above, such as the Wii Shop Channel and “Today’s Accomplishments” on the Wii Message Board, will remain available.

- Nintendo of Australia

Ubisoft And WayForward Announce The Smurfs Video Game For Wii U, Wii And DS

In anticipation of the July 31 release of Columbia Pictures’ and Sony Pictures Animation’s 3D hybrid live-action/animated family comedy The Smurfs 2, today Ubisoft announced that the company will develop and publish a video game based on the film. Developed by Ubisoft and WayForward, the game will be released as an action-adventure platformer game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Wii and Wii U, as well as an interactive storytelling book and collection of mini-games on Nintendo DS. It will release on all consoles in July, 2013.

Nintendo Working On Fast Charging Battery Kit For Wii

Wii Remote JacketSince the launch of the Wii in 2006, AA batteries have been the only source of power for the Wii remotes, and if you were a savvy Nintendo consumer you’d probably figured that rechargeable batteries were better in the long-run. Now, it appears that the company has finally cottoned onto the idea of selling an official rechargeable battery pack and charger for the Wii remote.

In a recent online survey by Nintendo they asked whether users would buy the Fast Battery Charger and if they would pay, approximately, $40 for the rechargeable battery, AC adapter, a charging cradle, strap and replacement silicone jacket. Unfortunately, they may be asking this five years too late – would you be interested in this pack?