For a device category whose core appeal is supposed to be making games simple, we get complex ambitions, the rush to features and a proposition that increasingly makes no sense. What is a game console supposed to be for? What is its core purpose? How do we deliver core purpose and connect with the root reason for buying into these platforms in the first place? Who will get past the bullshit? → Read More
Nintendo is trying to get people to buy the new Wii U, but it just isn’t working, according to recent sales numbers. Now, the Japanese gaming giant is hoping that helping developers port their smartphone content to the home gaming console with conversion software will help entice buyers, according to the Japan Times. → Read More
The builders of Wii hacking devices, Wiikey, have announced that they’ve found a method to hack the Wii U to play content via USB media. The kit also claims to work on devices from any region and requires no soldering. → Read More
Perhaps poor marketing is holding back Wii U sales for Nintendo. As Spike TV’s GTTV host Geoff Keighley noted on Twitter, a new campaign from Nintendo is using flyers to show just how awesome the Wii U is.
Except, instead of going after console rivals Nintendo decided to aim its attack at its own, older-generation console the Wii. To be fair, the Wii is probably the strongest competitor to the… → Read More
Remember that console that Nintendo launched with the tablet controller? No, not the Wii, the other one. No? Strangely most of us seem to have forgotten all about it too, and quickly. Sales are terrible and buzz about the system is almost nil. Is it salvageable at this point, or does Nintendo need to go and have a good long think about how it got to this point after riding so high. → Read More
While the Sony press event this week has largely been received as a wasted opportunity, it speaks more to the fate of the game console than the PS4. Microsoft may win the next generation, but will winning really look like total victory or merely an example of being the best loser? With microconsoles shaking up the entire industry from top to bottom, the game console as we know it looks doomed. → Read More
Nintendo has a lot to announce this morning, including an app for its Miiverse platform, as well as some fan-favorite game titles that will be available on the Wii U platform in the coming months. By the time E3 rolls around, in mid-June, the Wii U will support two new Zelda games, as well as new Super Mario and Mario Kart titles.
Nintendo announced the Wii U back in June, offering a new level… → Read More
Nintendo is no stranger to gaming on the go (I’ve been clinging to Nintendo handhelds for as long as I’ve been able to walk) but president Satoru Iwata just let slip some unexpected information about the company’s next mobile foray during a live Nintendo Direct address. No, Nintendo hasn’t decided to make smartphone games — instead, Iwata spoke of plans to let smartphone owners access Nintendo’s… → Read More
While I’ve managed to resist the call of the Wii U so far, neat tricks with the GamePad like the newly-announced Google Maps app Street View integration have me sorely tempted. Nintendo announced today that Google Maps will be arriving on the Wii U gaming console in early 2013, delivering a unique Street View mode for the GamePad touchscreen controller that allows users to pan around various… → Read More
Sony’s PlayStation 3 and the Microsoft Xbox 360 have both seen physical hardware design changes in their many years on the market, but the Wii has remained mostly the same Wii since its launch, with a minor update last year that made it slightly smaller. Now that Nintendo has released the Wii U, however, it looks like a bigger change is on the way for its older console, called the Wii Mini. → Read More
The Wii U’s GamePad is essentially the console’s secret weapon, so it’s good to see YouTube arrive on Nintendo’s latest hardware with built-in support for its tablet-style controller. The Wii U version of YouTube is available now, following hot on the heels of the version for the Wii, and it allows you to both browse and view on your GamePad as well as on the TV. → Read More
Hulu Plus landed on the Wii at the start of the year and the company has now announced it’s arrived on the Wii U — utilizing the GamePad controller as a second screen so viewers can watch shows on their TV and view additional content, such as episode synopses, on the GamePad. → Read More
While Gamestop is reporting record Wii U preorders and sales, it looks like the Wii gray market is in full effect, driving prices of the console into the thousands as unyielding children barrack their parents into buying them the latest and greatest this holiday. → Read More
Six years ago, almost to the day, I remember sitting on the couch with my then one-year-old son playing Elebits on the recently launched Wii. I thought he’d understand the simple point and shoot game. It was sort of a shooter. You walked around a house and aimed at the little characters. He was enthralled.
I was a new parent and I was showing him the magic of the Wii – Nintendo’s… → Read More
Editor’s Note: Tadhg Kelly is a game designer with 20 years experience. He is the creator of the leading game design blog What Games Are, and consults for many companies on game design and development. You can follow him on Twitter here.
Companies often shout in the games industry. They yell with videos, music, press events with booth babes and the monster that is E3. They hustle and go… → Read More
Nintendo will finally make its Wii U available to customers this November, after having previewed the next-gen console for over a year now, the company announced at a press event today. The Wii U will come in a $299.99 Basic version in white with 8GB of onboard storage, and a 32GB Deluxe model in black for $349.99. It’ll hit the U.S. on November 18 and Europe on November 30.
The console will… → Read More
According to WiiUDaily (and we’re confirming), the games shown at E3 are native at 720p resolution, a considerable step down from the 1080p, 3D-pumping action coming out of the 360 and the PS3 in many cases. Although there is no absolute proof that the Wii U launch titles will all be 720p, the site noted that “the representative couldn’t confirm whether the games can be upscaled to 1080p, only… → Read More
Details are still just mainly technical, but Nintendo just took the wraps off the final version of the Wii U’s controller, now named Gamepad. This came during Nintendo’s somewhat surprising pre-E3 press conference. The controller itself looks somewhat similar to the prototype unit Nintendo unveiled at last year’s E3.
This pre-briefing speaks to the confidence of Nintendo. These sort of details… → Read More
Nintendo unveiled the tablet-centric Wii U at last year’s E3. At the time the company was clear that it was a working name. A report earlier this year stated that Nintendo was exploring other options. E3 kicks off next week and it seems increasingly likely that Nintendo is sticking with the unusual moniker.
First off, Nintendo just launched a Wii U Facebook campaign complete with an intro video… → Read More
The Wii U brand is a bit underwhelming. At best it builds upon a very successive product. But at worst the name suggests its simply an add-on rather than a completely revamped system. A new report just surfaced that sources a Nintendo insider stating the company is considering renaming the next-gen Wii.
Nintendo is quickly spiraling down. The Wii U — or whatever it’s to be called — needs to… → Read More
3DS sales have picked up lately, but Nintendo‘s financial numbers are still weak. Big N today released [PDF] another set of disappointing results for the first nine months of its fiscal year (April to December 2011). The company lost a whopping US$630 million, compared with a profit of US$635 million in the same time frame last fiscal.
Sales were down 31.2% year-on-year to US$7.2 billion. → Read More
One of the first things I was told when I ducked into one of Nintendo’s suites to play with the Wii U was what they wouldn’t tell me. Price, release date, technical specs, games in development — all of these were taboo topics that would be (and were) met with a gentle dismissal if I broached the subject.
Great. With that load lifted, I picked up the Wii U controller and dove in. → Read More
They have been fighting against the concept of making customers pay for extra game content for years, but as previously reported, Nintendo has now changed its strategy. According to a report by Japanese business daily The Nikkei, Nintendo has chosen Fire Emblem as the first game on the 3DS to offer paid download content.
Fire Emblem: Kakusei, the latest title in the classic RPG series, is… → Read More
One of the big disappointments at E3 was the news that Nintendo’s weird new console, the Wii U, would only support one of their tablet controllers at once. But recent losses have made them reconsider their situation and the opportunities presented by allowing a second controller to be used in the home — and sold at stores.
We were initially skeptical of the new system, as rumor after … → Read More
The Tokyo Game Show 2011 is just ten days away, but Square Enix preferred to hold a separate press conference in Tokyo to announce their next big game, Dragon Quest X [JP]. Perhaps the biggest surprises, after months of anticipation, are that the tenth installment in the 25-year old RPG series will be an online RPG and available on both the Wii and the Wii U.
The full title of the game will be… → Read More
Nintendo is prepping a slightly retooled Wii for a pre-holiday release. This streamlined model sits horizontally (as a game console should) instead of vertically like the original. It’s also slightly smaller, lacks the ability to play Gamecube games, and will likely hit at a lower price.
This move has standard procedure for game makers ever since the original NES. In an effort to revive sales… → Read More
Don’t expect Episode 3 to come to your New Controller any time soon, but Valve’s Gabe Newell has made some noises about Nintendo being included in their “scalability model.” What he means is that there was no way they were downsizing a game to fit on the Wii, but the Wii U might have the chops to make it worth porting games to. For a long time Nintendo has been the whipping… → Read More
Nintendo proudly showed off the Wii U controller at E3. During the company’s presser, it was plastered on a massive screen time and time again. Then on the show floor, anyone could play with it as long as they were willing to give up half a day waiting in line. But the actual console was just neatly stuffed in the wall, hiding all its secrets. Until Inside Games came along and managed to… → Read More
A Sega marketing exec, speaking to Gamespot, blurted out that the Wii U will probably launch spring/summer of 2012, a proposition that sounds a bit fishy. We could see Nintendo announcing availability at E3 2012 and then selling it around the holidays, thereby sewing up 2012 and 2013 in terms of console sales, but a spring launch just doesn’t make much sense. → Read More
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