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Report: Games Making More Money Than Consumer Electronics In Japan
For the past 40-50 years, Japanese prosperity has been linked with the success of the nation’s world-beating consumer electronics companies. Sony, Panasonic, Fujitsu, etc. Recent figures released by analysts Eurotechnology show, however, that as those former giants of the Japanese economy take hit after hit in the current global economic crisis, the country’s games business…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 13, 2009 -
Switch DS Games Without Switching Consoles
Here’s a nice compromise between the legality of using only legitimate DS cartridges and the (albeit less legal) convenience of having multiple games on the one cart: a device that lets you switch between legitimate cartridges. This is the Blaze 3-in-1 Game Selector, and while it looks a little clunky, it makes up in handiness…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 13, 2009 -
Mario Marathon Fundraiser Blows Past 2008 Totals
Game marathons became something of a fad last year, but the original’s still the best. Year two of the Super Mario Marathon, which raised more than $10,000 in 2008, is already past $16,000. Update/Clarification: My remarks above failed to consider Desert Bus for Hope, which is both a year older than the Mario Marathon, is…
By Owen Good Published July 12, 2009 -
Toad Revealed to be Ungrateful A-hole After All
Blah blah blah, thank you Mario, another castle, etc. … But magnify the sprite and we see the rancorous contempt Toad has had for us for more than a quarter-century. Some folks claim those are Toad’s thumbs, not the double-barreled bird. I think it goes either way. Toad has been Giving Us the Finger since…
By Owen Good Published July 11, 2009 -
Crummy Wii Accessories Finally Triple-Jump The Shark
Get a load of this. It’s a Wii accessory kit that contains an incredible 38 pieces. 38! Enough to form a shitty white plastic Voltron, Devastator and Predaking, with enough left over to scrape together a Defensor while you’re at it. It’s manufactured by Chinese company Areus, and seems to be their “21 in 1”…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 11, 2009 -
Hudson Soft Dials Up The Horror With Calling
Hudson Soft takes a stab at the horror genre with Calling for the Nintendo Wii, which transforms your Wii remote into a cell phone with direct dial service to the damned. The Calling plays on classic Japanese horror films like Ringu, with a mysterious website called the Page of Black. A simple black page with…
By Mike Fahey Published July 10, 2009 -
Starfy Parties In Rockefeller Plaza
Nintendo celebrates the release of the first Starfy title in the United States this weekend, inviting children of all ages to the Nintendo World Store in New York City for hot face painting action. The Legendary Starfy for the Nintendo DS might have been released in North America early last month, but it’s never too…
By Mike Fahey Published July 10, 2009 -
Game & Watch Titles Coming To DSi Ware
Game & Watch, the handheld games created by Game Boy creator Gunpei Yokoi, are coming to Japanese DSi Ware. The series was recently released as a Club Nintendo DS cartridge dubbed Game & Watch Collection. Each game is priced at 200 Points. Titles and Japan release dates as follows: • Ball July 15 • Flagman…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 10, 2009 -
Reggie: Be Patient, The Wii Vitality Sensor Will “Wow” You
Nintendo’s announcement of the Wii Vitality Sensor at E3 was met with some amount of befuddlement and a heap of “WTF?” But Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aime says, eventually, you will say “Wow, I get it.” Reggie tells Fast Company that the same confusion—and maybe even some mockery—followed the introduction of the…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 9, 2009 -
Wii Sports Resort Sales Pass 500,000 In Japan
Nintendo’s Wii Sports Resort is ensuring that Wii MotionPlus penetration is off to a good start in Japan, with the Wii game moving another 150,000 copies in its second week on the market. That puts the Wii Sports sequel at more than a half million copies sold, according to Media Create, a feat sure to…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 9, 2009 -
Need For Speed Nitro Still Stylin’
The Nintendo Wii entry in EA’s reboot of the Need for Speed series continues to impress with sharp, stylish visuals. The DS version? Not so much. See if you can spot the difference! Sure it isn’t a hyper-realistic racer that lets you see your own reflection in the rear-view mirror. That’s not really what the…
By Mike Fahey Published July 9, 2009 -
DJ Star Scratches Your DS
Not every upcoming DJ game requires a large extra piece of plastic, as Game Life‘s DJ Star for the Nintendo DS readily proves. Maybe it’s just me, but I find the concept of scratching to music much more compelling on the DS than I do sitting in front of my television with a special controller,…
By Mike Fahey Published July 9, 2009 -
Carcassonne Coming To A DS Near You
Classic German board game Carcassonne – which has already turned up on Xbox Live Arcade – will also soon be making the leap to the Nintendo DS, courtesy of Koch Media. This DS version will contain the original board game along with expansion “River”, but also expands upon this by introducing three new “worlds”, described…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 9, 2009 -
Wii Fit Plus (And Other Nintendo Titles) Dated For Japan
Via Japanese Nintendo news website Rambling Man come a smattering of Nintendo release dates. Please keep in mind that these are unconfirmed at the moment. • August 6: Color Changing Tingle’s Love Balloon Trip • September 17: Forever Blue 2: The Call of the Sea • September 3: Sloan and MacHale’s Mysterious Story 2 •…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 9, 2009 -
Hey, Resident Evil 5 Might Be Possible On Wii After All
Resident Evil 5, as we know it, just isn’t possible on the Wii. But that’s as we know it. Nothing stopping it turning up on the Wii in some other form. Capcom’s Masachika Kawata has told gamesTM: Hypothetically speaking, the Resident Evil 4 engine would work perfectly for replicating the gameplay but we would never…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 8, 2009 -
Wii Remote In Raised Fist: Possibly The Image Of Our Generation
Three times is homage, rip-off, a trend or simply a sign that this is the signature visual of the gaming era during which we live. Edge Magazine cover from 2005 back when the Wii was still called the Revolution (Via Edge cover gallery on Flickr) Nintendo Power cover from 2006 Cover to forthcoming book, A…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 8, 2009 -
Master Photoshop The Legend of Zelda Way
Despite more than a decade of futzing about with Adobe Photoshop, my digital painting skills are considerably amateur. Creating something like David Cousens’ The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask piece above is beyond my skills… or is it?! The answer is still “Yes, it is,” but Cousens fantastic Photoshop tutorial, in which he walks us…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 8, 2009 -
Why Golf Is In Wii Sports Resort
Originally, Wii Sports Resort did not include a golf game. But it ended up in Wii Sports Resorts only after Miyamoto mistakenly said it would be in the game. Doh! Nintendo staffer Takayuki Shimamura recounts the story with a laugh: “Right after getting back to Japan, he suddenly said: “You know we’re including golf now.”…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 8, 2009 -
Nintendo’s Newest Mascot Is The Wii Sports Resort Island
Nintendo’s reliance on Mario, Zelda and Pokemon is sometimes a loudly vocalized source of frustration for fans of the company hoping for something new. The good news is that you’re getting a brand new character in Wii Sports Resort‘s island. Shigeru Miyamoto, general manager of the Entertainment Analysis & Development Division—the team responsible for Wii…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 7, 2009 -
SimAnimals Bless The Rains Down In Africa
The wild dogs cry out in the night, as they grow restless looking for some solitary company in SimAnimals Africa, EA’s follow-up to their charming animal simulator for the Nintendo Wii and DS. If you want compelling animal drama, you go to Africa. Natsume knows this, as does Majesco. Now EA is getting in on…
By Mike Fahey Published July 7, 2009