Say what you will about the terrible anime series or the potential animal cruelty factor of a game that is basically a non-stop onslaught of cock-fights, Pokemon was one of if not the most influential game of Nintendo's portable game strategy. 

Apparently created by a fan collective, Pokemon Online is a completely non-Nintendo project that aims to turn the Pokemon universe into a working MMORPG complete with quests, an open world, and opf course a great deal of pokemon fighting.

Taping into the most interesting, if basic aspects of the Pokemon games, this could prove an interestijng template for Nintendo to pay attention to--could the future of Pokemon reside in the MMO genre, and if so can Nintendo match fan expectations?

It's an interesting thing.... Yesterday morning as I was perusing the latest XBL release info over at Major Nelson's site, one of the comments demanded the removal of Greg Canessa as GM of the Xbox Live Arcade.    Today, we find out he's decided to accept a job over at Popcap games.

For me, this brings up an interesting question - Is it more important to be a competant business man who has no real interest in games, beyond it being his business?  Or is it better to have a manager who understands the desires of gamers because, ultimately, he is one - even though he may be less experianced? 

The removal of Greg Canessa comes at an interesting time in the life of the Xbox Live Arcade Marketplace - the last game I bought was Small Arms, and I havn't felt like I was missing out.   On my console I have every single game downloaded, but have only purchased maybe five.   Why?   Even though I'm a hardcore gamer who does enjoy his gamerscore, I despise the repackaging of "Retro" titles.   In gaming, people use the word "Retro" like a compliment. "Oh, Pacman?   It's Retro!"  when in reality, some games are just old.    I understand the merits of titles like Galaga or Pole Position, but the fact of the matter is: If you havn't already played Pole Position, and you're a gamer - then you're not going to appreciate it.   Oh sure, you might claim to, but ultimately you just get that funky taste in your mouth and think "Hrmm, Maybe I should have played this before playing Grand Turismo 4". 

The practice of porting Retro Games to modern consoles is nothing but lazy developing.   While Microsoft is bad, Nintendo is even worse - somebody made a rather insightful comment on the VM for the Wii

From a development standpoing Nintendo has actually only released five items for the VC- an NES emulator, a SNES emulator, a Genesis emulator, a TG-16 emulator, and a N64 emulator. The rest are just ROM images.

So when you think about it, Nintendo is actually being even lazier!  The ROMS have been out there for years, as have the emulators.    No added features at all "to preserve the original feel", and they're expensive to boot.     Don't even get me started on the controls for Super Mario World when using a Gamecube controller.... 

Which brings us back to Greg Canessa leaving his post as the General Manager of the Xbox Live Arcade...   I think what we're seeing here is either Greg or Microsoft (or both) realizing that your average executive just doesn't understand what we, the gamers, actually want.  And since We, the Gamers, are their entire market, it's a significant distinction.    Microsoft recently announced that starting this week (and for the next 9 weeks ), a mostly impressive list of titles will be hitting the XBLA including (but not limited to) Catan, Worms, Alien Hominid HD, Rootbeer Tapper, Paperboy, Band of Bugs,  and Castlevania: SOTN. 

First one out the gate?  Rootbeer Tapper.
The next day?  General Manager Greg Canessa no longer works for Microsoft.

About six months ago, I had a conversation with a friend within MS, and we got to talking about the way Arcade was being handled.   He told me that we (GamerAndy Live!) bagged on Arcade too much, and I said that when they started putting out games I didn't feel they should be embarrassed about charging real money for (Lame, overdone retro titles) that we'd say nice things about it.   He then told me that he agreed and there were alot of people within that division who were trying to push the original content out, but it was being stopped because some of the higher-ups had gotten it in their heads that you could produce retro titles very cheaply, and make money off the nostalgic gamers - Pretty much all profit.

Coincidence?

I think we're about to see a New Day for XBLA

-Andy
(Comment on this story here)

So much stuff.

Weeks like this, the hardest part isn't finding the news, it's elevating the cool from the merely exciting.  Major announcements left and right, gargantuan displays of corporate might, spectacular screwups.

More after the break...

Continue reading "Josh Talks The News"

I actually took a call yesterday at GameStop from a person terribly worried that we wouldn't be getting any Wiis before Christmas, what with the recall and all.

Oh my.  I forgot about the recall.

As reported by the Associated Press, Nintendo is effectively ‘recalling’ 3.2 million Wiimote straps. 

More than three million units recalled!  Three million units... months of production... the entirety of these devices... are defective? 

Well, no.  They aren’t defective.  They’re only barely ‘recalled.’  Nintendo is offering free replacements for these straps.  Out of 3,200,000 little cloth strappy-things, more than 3,190,000 are more than likely just fine and will remain that way even if they are never replaced.

This isn’t a recall.  It’s a semi-convenient faux-admission of pseudo-guilt, and I’d say it's nothing short of hyphen-tastic.  There is no recall and there won’t be.  This is a fun mail-in offer where you can get a fun decorative grippy bit for your toys if you mail in your proofs-of-purchase.  The only difference between this and a cereal box prize offer is that this box of cornflakes is $250.

Of course, just like breakfast cereals, you’d have to be a moron or a psychopath to break your television with either one.

Nintendo is being incredibly gracious to the overblown outcries of a handful of greasy-fingered convulsors whose embarrassing spasms would make Michael J. Fox sigh in disdain. 

They’re so good, folks over there at the House of Miyamoto Ideas.  They’re so good they are playing right along with this explosive media lunacy without a second thought.  A decidedly unlikely problem and what is honestly a series of isolated incidents (and even some fake ones) has driven Nintendo to swallow its pride and act like it was wrong.

Put on your aluminum hats for a moment and think insane-conspiracy-style with me: A seemingly viral campaign of outlandish Wii-driven destruction. Who is the LAST entity you’d think capable of engineering such a convoluted and yet utterly brilliant plot?  Why, only the company responsible for the most embarrassing acts of viral-commercial-engineering seen in the last several years.  Sony’s almost made a point of appearing incapable of complicated PR schemes… perhaps too incapable… yes…

Sorry, my mind wandered.  Stop throwing wiimotes, you damn retards.  Christ.

Hey everyone, just popping into let all the Aussie gamers know that The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for Gamecube will be on sale this Thursday from selected stores.

This means that, for anyone wanting to purchase Zelda for the Cube, this will be your only opportunity to do so, as Nintendo is only shipping out a limited supply. I've got word that Electronics Boutique might be the only store stocking it.

That said, you may have noticed my absence for a bit. This is due to my laptop dying recently, so I barely have the chance to get online because I rarely have a working PC at my disposal. Still I'm gonna try to update when I can, bringing the news from downunder and all over.

One last thing: I want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. It's been a great year and hopefully we have many more to come. Special wishes go out to OSVG,Robotkio, Headin, Sharon+TF, Tray D, Uber, Sherveen, Brian, Edie, George, Hawkes and the Big Man. You guys've been keeping me entertained for good part of the year. Hope "Chrissy" goes well for all you.

Cheers.

You probably all know this, since it came down the pipes while the site was inoperable.

But late last week Nintendo got its first reported lawsuit over the Wii controller.

You knew it was going to happen. But I figured it would be for "personal injury" and not "patent infringment."

According to Kotaku, Interlink Electronics of California filed suit against Nintendo for allegedly ripping off its trigger.

Yeah, you read that right. See, Interlink says it invented a "trigger" for handheld interface devices for business uses, like PowerPoint presentations and remotely beating the Oompa-Loompas back into their cages at night.

I may have made that second part up.

Anyway, one of Internlink's patents includes a trigger -- a trigger suspiciously trigger shaped and postitioned in the front of a controller so that your finger may "pull" it.

Pretty damn revolutionary, I'd say.

And the Wii just so happens to have... wait for it... A TRIGGER!! That's right, ladies and gentlement, the papers filed in the state of Delaware so far have noted that Internlink Electronics is devastated -- nay, on the verge of bankruptcy -- because Nintento used a TRIGGER!!

Why may this not be as straightforward as it sounds? Why shouldn't you be worried about the Wii?

After the jump...

Continue reading "Nintendo Slammed for Patent Infringement"

If you haven't read the recent Penny Arcade strip regarding the slipperyness of Snail Gaming, then I would suggest you do so.

Done? Good, we may begin.

Nintendo, King of Q'Wii'ns (sorry), has decided to actually look into the issue.

But what issue is there to look at? Is it whether people with the grip of a baby harp seal can keep their supposedly opposable thumbs around a controller?

Iwata's explanation, that people are "getting a lot more excited than we'd expected," (I can only imagine the smirk on his face when he popped that one out) hardly does justice to the extent of the issue: WiiHaveAProblem.com happily parades the failure of human grip and fabric strap.

Via Eurogamer

Correction: This is the Japan release list. Dammit. Thanks for the correction Saterium

December 2 is gonna be a big day for the NIntendo Wii Virtual Console! Based on the list I just grabbed from our buddies over at YouNewb.com, there are 37 titles on four platforms all releasing on Saturday.

Some titles definitely better than others, but I'm a little bit baffled here. The prices on some of these games seem waaaaay way way out of whack.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but can't you get your hands on the most recent edition (Sim City 4: Deluxe) for just $5 more?

And Look! you can actually get Sim City 3000 for LESS than the SNES version. Maybe there are some of you out there willing to pay $9 for what amounts to one of the first PC-to-console bastardizations, but I'd rather gouge out my eyes with a jagged tuna can lid.

Some notable games coming soon:
* Donkey Kong (Nintendo/Dec. 2): 500 points
* Mario Bros. (Nintendo/Dec. 12): 500 points
* Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo/Dec. 2): 500 points
* Super Mario World (Nintendo/Dec. 2): 800 points
* Fire Emblem: Monsho no Nazo (Nintendo/Dec. 26): 900 points
* Street Fighter II (Capcom/Dec. 2): 800 points
* Donkey Kong Country (Nintendo/Dec. 12): 800 points
* Toejam & Earl (SEGA/Dec. 2): 600 points
* Sonic the Hedgehog (SEGA/Dec. 2): 600 points

So, what do YOU think of pricing?   Frankly it turns me off faster than the thought of Edie's mom's garden (thats for you OSVG)   Seriously though, does anybody know what the hell "Mario's Super Picross" is and why it's worth 8 bucks? 

Full release list after the jump

Continue reading "Virtual Console Release list + Sim City Costs $9??? (Updated)"

Hey all.
Saw this when I was crusing Destructoid this morning and thought it was worthy of a post. Let's keep in mind though that this is a rumor by way of a rumor by way of an unconfirmed anonymous conversation, so don't *really* get your hopes up.
The original article is up at RumorReporter.

So, GamerAndy HQ hasn't gotten its hands on a Wii yet, and I'm damned anxious to play some of those titles. As such, I'm playing the linky game today with a review of Trauma Center done by GWN on the (at least for me) most anticipated launch title on the Wii!

From the article:

---

While Trauma Center is a surgery game, it is far from a realistic simulation. Yes, the game begins with relatively minor trifles, such as removing a piece glass from a patient’s arm or removing tumors, but by the end of the game the protagonist, Derek Stiles, finds himself smack dab in the middle of a heated war against a vicious bioterrorist group and combating a malicious (but oddly colorful) virus known as Guilt. Stiles is specially chosen to fight against Guilt because Stiles has the “healing touch”, a special power that grants him super-human speed for short bursts of time in the operating room. The plot is jam-packed with as many anime cliches as the developers could cram onto the disc, but I feel that its campiness just adds to the charm of the game.

---

So check out the full review.

Any of you readers manage to get your hands on a Wii console? Got any reviews you want posted?Contact us at andy@gamerandy.com.

Apologies for making two erection references in a row here, but I couldn't help myself.<

The people over at GameLuv.com have a story (and juicy picture) up of what is apparently a Target exclusive Legend of Zelda... thing. It's a special "limited time only" box that looks like a book, sort of, and contains one-sixth scale replicas of Link's sword and shield! Oh, and it also included a soundtrack sampler (though Target's site lists it as "official soundtrack from the game"), which is nice, i guess.

A quick search on Target.com didn't turn up any results for online order so you know what that means.
Get thee to a Target-ery!

Here's another video (and probably the last vid of the day) but this one is different. Why? Because I filmed it!

Yeah, the shakey-cam was from the caffiene. Apologies, there.

I *love* the guy who starts freestyling at the end of this, and the look on Nintendo VP George Harrison's face is just priceless when he realizes he's being filmed.
(Video is still uploading, please be patient)

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has predicted that the Wii will sell 1 million Wii's by December. In a chat with Reuters, Reggie (who can be seen on T-shirts, Wii in hand) stated that he wants to sell another 1 million units by the second week of January. That's, well, oddly precise.
On the other hand, it's actually quite likely. While the PS3 has real issues regarding availabiity, the Wii can be found in great numbers. According to NexGenWars.com, the Wii has already sold more than 600,000 consoles (more than the numbers promised by Sony). It seems unlikely that Microsoft will sell as many consoles as last year -- there is a saturation point for hardcore gamers, and it looks as though MS has reached it. The Wii will also be Europe's Christmas console -- with a continent-wide shortage of PS3's, the only oppertunity I'll have for an interesting present is the Wii.

Of course, now that GamerAndy is bigger and better, it'd be nice if Nintendo could send us Wiis
via GamesIndustry.biz

EDITOR'S NOTE: I'll second that!!

My little camp at Oakland International Airport as I deal with my phone not working.

Alright, I've calmed down a bit from when I wrote this blog the first time. This isn't gonna get posted until I'm actually at the event, so it's not much of a live-blog -- but, yeah.

So I got up this morning at around 7 a.m., headed to the airport at 9 a.m. and my flight leaves at 12:55 p.m., arriving in Burbank at around 2 p.m.

Why all these numbers? Why all this time spent in airports?

Because I, Gamer Andy, am on a mission.

My mission is to blog the crap out of the official Nintendo Wii launch party taking place tonight at midnight. Depending on the crowd when I get there I may end up in line and try to land one for myself, but more importantly I'm going to be there all goddamn day as the eyes and ears of our generation. The Gamer Generation.

Big N has promised me access to some of their special peoples for interviewey goodness, and I discovered (as I packed up this morning) that I still have Edie's magical Tape-Recorder-Of-Awesome-Journalismness. It's got fresh batteries, I've got a nice five megapixel camera and the means to transfer photos. The only restricting factor is gonna be wi-fi, which I've been told, will be made freely available to me upon my arrival.

The plus side? It can only get better from here.

Photo dump + shot-by-shot commentary after the jump...

Continue reading "GamerAndy.com at the L.A. Wii Launch: Airplanes Suck Ass"

Pacing back and forth from store entrance to back of the line, the Wii man aggrovates and taunts the already dissatisfied Playstation 3 campers. With such statements as "you can move me around, and shit" and "the Wii controller has rumble; what happened Sony?", morale was taking a hit.

The response? Someone yells out "PSP!... oh wait, no, PS3!", revealing most people in line really don't have a clue why they're there. Even so, the cranky Playstation 3 campers who knew why they were standing in line retaliated with a few sub-par remarks, making terrible Wii related jokes. Yes, we all understand the name of Nintendo’s newest console seems similar to a part of the male human anatomy. No, we don’t need you to make a second grade joke about it.

It's PS3 launch day and you're dying to get your hands on one. Only problem is you have a life. Not to fear however, as we all know large department stores with small sections of video games don't usually have campers lining up days in advance. So you and some buddies head over to your local Sears and ask around for a PlayStation 3.

To your dismay the store only has two units, and they're already reserved. Then suddenly from out of nowhere the sales representative, not yet ready to lose a $600 customer, points you in the direction of the Nintendo Wii. The notion of enlightening the sales person of the actual release date notwithstanding, you calmly grab a Wii box, pay for it, and head straight for the Internet -- or at least, that's what this guy did on NeoGAF.

Looking for a Wii? Head to Sears!

Anybody fishing for Gameplay footage of that new Wii thingy? (he said jokingly)   Today we've got some recent footage from a spanish Wii event... Doesn't look too crowded so either it wasn't very well promoted, or it was pretty exclusive.   Worth watching for the gameplay footage + what-it-looks-like-while-your-playing footage of pretty much every game i've heard announced for the console.  Wii Sports to Red Steel and Raymans Raving Rabbids, iz all there.

Be aware though, there are supposedly Zelda spoilers at about 7.5 minutes in.

via GoNintendo

Contact was one of my most anticipated games of the year and I beat it last night.  I beat it, but I didn't actually finish it.  I beat it as in, I saw the credits roll, but I'm not finished because I didn't do many of the optional side quests and I didn't get most of the skills offered in the game.  As you can tell, Contact is complicated.

For those not in the know, Contact is an RPG on the Nintendo DS developed by Suda51's grasshopper studio. You know, the same guy who brought you Killer 7. You play yourself, but you have to control Terry, the boy who lives in another world.  You have to control Terry to help the Professor, who must obtain some gems that broke into a couple pieces and is now scattered throughout some islands.  In the typical RPG fashion, it's up to Terry to fetch these gem fragments, but the CosmoNOTs, who are also after the gems, poses as opposition.

Impressions after the jump.

Continue reading "Review: Contact"

What are Initial Thoughts? I like them to think of them as the love child between Previews and Reviews.  Basically, it's what I think of a game after giving it a whirl for an hour or so.  I like writing these because I'd rather know what someone thinks of the first couple of  hours of a game instead of the game as a whole because as a player, the first hours of a game is the deciding factor in whether I play the game in the first place.

Now, onto Touch Detective. It's a point and click adventure game on the DS under the same genre as great detective games like Sam & Max or any of the Monkey Island games.  The player plays MacKenzie, a young detective who inherits the detective agency. The game is separated into different cases, which are then separated into parts.  Players can use the touch screen to make MacKenzie walk to a specific area or examine some item.

Thoughts on the whole thing after the jump.

Continue reading "Initial Thoughts: Touch Detective"

So, it would appear the proverbial cat is out of the NDA. A few hours ago a Seattle paper printed, then retracted, then reprinted an article from the New York Times (that nobody can find now) stating that the Nintendo Wii will launch November 17th (5 days after the announced PS3 launch) for $250 including a wiimote, nunchuck and Wii Sports.    Also included in the article are launch numbers (4 million by end of fiscal year), Game prices (50 bucks) and point conversions (1 Wii point = 1 yen)

From the article: 

Nintendo gets Wii ready for holidays
Company plans to put console on market Nov. 19

By SETH SCHIESEL
THE NEW YORK TIMES

In a move that may allow Nintendo of Japan to take advantage of stumbles by its main rival, the company plans to announce today that it will release its new Wii video-game console in North and South America on Nov. 19, just as the holiday shopping season begins, and that the machine will cost $250 in the United States

 

Initial reaction after the Jump
Continue reading "Tripped and Broke my NDA.... (Wii Price'd and Dated)"

Hey everybody,
I've got some interesting news for you today.

Yesterday, IGN.com posted an article containing rumored Wii launch dates, pricing, colors, and manufacturing numbers. After being up a few hours the article was pulled. Apparently the source of this information wrote IGN saying that, "I do not wish to go to jail in the morning." But hours later the article, which was now edited, was re-published. HMMMMM... I think this one might actually have a bit of truth behind it...

release date: November 2-12
Price: 229.99 US
Color: black or white
units at launch: original---5.5 million---republished---5 million


Speculation on the reasons behind this debacle after the jump....

Continue reading "Updated WII speculation... but there might be some truth to this one."

Wondering what the publishers of Psychonauts are doing lately?

Teaching the Japanese how to cook... that's what.

Majesco will soon release to the US a snappy little title called Cooking Mama for the Nintendo DS. (Edit: While there is a cooking game named Cooking Mama, this is NOT an ad for it. The clip below is for a different title which *is* a step-by-step cooking instructor. Still trying to ascertain what exactly it's called.)

Okay. New game. Big deal.

But what makes this a bit revolutionary is that it's NOT a game. It's a program that teaches you how to cook, step-by-step.

As far as I know, and I could be very wrong here, this is the first time a gaming console has been used as a non-gaming console -- except of course to send email or play MP3s, which is very different than what Cooking Mama does. This title uses the console not as a source of multi-media entertainment or digital storage but as in instructional tool for real-life skills.

Here's a Japanese commercial for Cooking Mama (Edit: Nintendo Cooking DS, we think), just to give you a better sense of it.

From the creator:

"I'm Link and I like to knock back the red potion. I drink ridiculous amounts of alcohol, that's my thing. So what if I blacked out, crapped my tights, and lost my ocarina last night - I partied my shield off and I'm doing it again tonight!"

Hit play and laugh your butt off along with the rest of us!

-Matt

Well folks,
It finally looks like we are seeing what we (well at least I) will be playing on the WII when it finally releases sometime this fall. The new Nintendo Power shows these games as launch titles.

Here's the list:

Twilight Princess
WII sports
Rayman Raving Rabbits
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
Red Steel
Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors

Discussion of strategy and surprises after the jump.

  

Continue reading "WII launch titles confirmed!"

First, a little background on my affiliation with handhelds. I haven't had one since the Game Boy Color. Back when Pokemon was cool. Back when I was a little (or at least, more little than I am now) kid. Since then, I haven't bought myself a handheld. Why? I find them a waste of money. Why buy some small little screen that has the capacity to do graphics from three generations ago, when you can spend that money on something for your next generation console, play it on an HDTV, with surround sound, and the impeccable Xbox 360 controller? What's the use?

Of course, I've played every handheld since, in one form or another, including the DS, while camping out for my Xbox 360. I enjoyed multiplayer Mario Kart DS, winning most all the rounds. It was a pleasant experience. Of course, I had been bored for seven or so hours, and I had seven or so left to go. But, recently, as most of you know, the DS Lite was released in America.

When shots of this handheld first came out, the redesign of the DS, I was very attracted by the sleek and stylish look, but thought nothing of it, as I found the library to be lame, and the idea of buying a handheld a waste. Then, I saw myself some New Super Mario Bros. videos. I'm a huge Mario fanatic. I love the guy. Of course, at a young age, I made a foolish mistake, selling my SNES/NES, PlayStation, and N64, thus loosing my Mario playability on the SNES/NES. I am, eventually, going to rebuy all my classic items (love you, eBay), but until then, I saw my opportunity to forgive myself with NSMB... It looked fun, new, and classic.

And this leads me to my review of the Nintendo DS Lite, New Super Mario Bros., Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Mario Kart DS, and Advance Wars. My return to the Handheld Kingdom...

Continue reading "The Big Surprise..."

After a three-hour car ride, I’m finally home after my harrowing experience at E3. Xbox 360 continued a strong presence, Playstation 3 made fanboys cry in a bad way while Nintendo Wii made fanboys cry in a good way. After having a day to organize my thoughts, I’d like to share my personal highlights from the show floor, things that pleasantly surprised me and of course my disappointments.

 

Continue reading "Reflection"

If you cannot handle Sony being bashed, don't follow the jump. If you cannot handle Nintendo recieving some criticism, go away. If you cannot handle Microsoft... umm... eh... being complimented? This is going to be extremely opinionated and in no way represents the opinions of the GamerAndy team... except I think most would agree with me... Yeah, just follow the jump.

Continue reading "The Xbot Speaks Out #1: E3"

Edie again.

John and I spent four hours in line today to finally get our hands on a Wii. Now, I'm not gonna bore you with a massive bitch session about why working press have to stand in line for four freaking hours to test out a major-release console!

Instead, I'm gonna serve up an early impression of Nitendo's next gen console with the world's silliest name.

In one word? HolyFreakingShitIWantOneNOW!

Details after the jump...

Continue reading "Edie on Wii: WHEEE!!!"

Hi folks, Cooper Hawkes here with a quick impression of the Nintendo press conference.

Honestly? Not a lot of new info, well that is save for the fact that Legend of Zelda is coming out for the Gamecube at the same time as the Wii version. 

The controller seems to work very well, they picked a guy who won a contest out of the audience and he played tennis with Reggie, Miyamoto, and Iawata, which was really entertaining and looked fun as heck.  More importantly, the guy picked up on serving the ball and hitting it very quickly.

Red Steel looks pretty damn good, full destructable environments, and the sword fighting with the controller was VERY cool.

No news on connection between the DS and the Wii, no news on exactly how the Virtual Console will work. 

One secret would appear to be a speaker in the controller.  So that when Link pulls back on the bow, you can hear it go tout in your hand, and when you let go, the sound "flies" from your hand, into the TV.  Miyamoto is saying the door of the Wii is another.

Interesting.

Anyway, more detail impressions later.  Let me know what you think.

Semper Fi!

Hey everybody, Sherveen here... coming to you from a place that is totally not E3... Time to crank out the roundup machine in today's special edition of GNR: E3 edition! It's going to be a bit short, just because in all the Sony mess I lost all the links I had packed up for a huge missed-E3-news roundup. Here it comes...

Hate to link outwards for E3, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do...

First: Joystiq has hands-on with the PlayStation 3, my impressions of their impressions...
Second: For those who haven't seen it yet, the new games interface that Sony has shown...
Third: Exclusive E3 Rainbow Six: Vegas trailer over at TeamXbox.
[UPDATE]: Exclusive E3 Xbox 360 Rainbow Six: Vegas gameplay at IGN!
Fourth: A bit old, not E3, but still looks kind of cool. Call of Duty 3 trailer.
Fifth: Nintendo says something or another about the PS3 controller.
[Two (1 and 2) small updates about the PS3...]: Ken says that the PS3 is "Too Cheap", and GameSpot points out, Sony did not steal from Nintendo! They stole from Microsoft! Full stories after the jump...

But wait, that isn't all... after the jump, full stories as well as what to expect from Microsoft and Nintendo at today's conferences!

Continue reading "Day 2: What we missed for Day 1..."

Hi folks, Cooper Hawkes with an oh-so-quick rundown of some news items before Sherveen comes home and cranks out his super list:

Item One: Activision aquires James Bond license.

Item Two: DS Lite Hits US Next Month

Item Three: Oblivion re-rated an M, Bethesda replies.

Check the jump for info and rant comments.

UPDATE: DS Price is actually CHEAPER than reported!

Continue reading "Gaming News: 5/4/2006"

By Brett Lavalla

The Nintendo Wii has been the biggest gaming story around for the past few days, and not because people are happy.  All over the internet gamers are uproarious about Nintendo's decision, and Nintendo couldn't be happier.  They knew this would be the reaction, and they chose the name Wii on purpose to cause it.  The fact that the hardcore are angry means Nintendo has succeeded.  Succeeded in creating a name that is accessible, a name that sets them apart from the competition, a name that will be remembered.

Continue reading "In Defense Of Wii: Why Nintendo chose the name, and why they're glad you're angry"

Oh goodness, I don't even know what to say... Nintendo has lost it.

Introducing... Wii.

As in "we."

While the code-name "Revolution" expressed our direction, Wii represents the answer.

Wii will break down that wall that separates video game players from everybody else.

Wii will put people more in touch with their games ... and each other. But you're probably asking: What does the name mean?

Wii sounds like "we," which emphasizes this console is for everyone.

Wii can easily be remembered by people around the world, no matter what language they speak. No confusion. No need to abbreviate. Just Wii.

UPDATE:

After the jump is what I think the "Get a free [insert console here]" ads will look like for the Wii... As well as additional "Wii" information.

Continue reading "The Revolution Has Gone Wii!"

I know I'm not the normal Nintendo guy, but this is such big news I couldn't help myself from posting it. The first Revolution screenshots will be unveiled in the upcoming Game Informer Magazine. Luckily there are already photos of the magazine online.

The game is a FPS from Ubisoft Paris called Red Steel which appears to take full advantage of the Revolutions unique controller for aiming, as well as tilting the gun. The screenshots were apparently taken in game using a Revolution dev-kit. This is why spec's don't matter. These visuals, while not PS3 of 360 quality, are much better than last generation. And the precision you get from using the Revmote will be much much greater than dual analog sticks, and it may even surpass the mouse. Personally I cannot wait to play this.

All the (photoshop enhanced) photos are after the jump. Thanks El Moco!

Viva La Revolution!

Continue reading "First Revolution Screenshots!"

Hey guys, John here - I'm the new Nintendo guy and finally we've got a juicy bit of Revo news....

The Revolution has been clocked!
Here's the lowdown.

Broadway CPU: 729 MHz
Hollywood GPU:243 MHz /w 88 Mb ram

Nintendo wasn't kidding around when they said they were sidestepping the HD movement... There are some benchmark comparisons after the jump...

Continue reading "The Revolution is coming... will it be televised?"

Hey everyone! Zak here again, trying to get over the death of my Pocket PC. I'd like to mention Im a big fan of Midway games since sometimes (yes sometime) they do bring out great games! And luckly a classic that got remade and now being done again is coming back..

Continue reading "It all started in Peoria, IL and that damn Nuclear powerplant..."

Hi folks, Cooper Hawkes here stepping outside of my boundries for a minute to report the new redesigned Nintendo DS, now called Nintendo DS-Lite according to IGN. Sorry George!! I was just kind of excited by it!

The modified dual screen handheld has been tweaked into a smaller chassis. The new unit measures up to 133 mm wide by 73.9 mm tall by 21.5 thick. (that's compared to 148.7 x 84.7 x 28.99 mm in the original.) DS Lite weighs 218g, compared to the 275 g of the original.

More and Pictures after the jump.

Continue reading "Nintendo DS redesign rumors? Turns out they are true."

Nintendo of Europe have released their 2006 2nd quarter line-up. There are some interesting titles on the list and it is well worth a read. There are some titles there i have never heard of including Pokemon Link and some I am glad to see that they will be released soon (not nearly soon enough *shakes fist*) including Metroid Prime Hunters.

Continue reading "Nintendo's Release Schedule"

Today I have accomplished something I've never done before. I woke up at 10am booted up the computer and started to lurk on the net... nothin really on or to do, so at about noon, I popped on ZSNES and started to play one of my Favorite games...

SUPER METROID

Continue reading "No wonder they call him a minute man..."

Hey guys Ethan here with what is a rumor, and nothing more.
According to how you translate a new article on http://gamefront.de/ about Devil May Cry 4, it may or may not be exclusive.

There is an english gamesite who confirms that it says that DMC4 is exclusive to PS3
http://www.totalvideogames.com/news/DMC4_Not_A_PS3_Exclusive__9125_4394_0.htm

Well the article (which originally apperaed in Famitsu) also says that Dante could have a beard in this one. What kind of beard? Goatee? Chuck Norris style? Who knows.

Well it looks like this rumor was just lost in translation.
Ethan here just wanting to say happy gaming

Welcome to 2006 everyone, which I predict will be the final year of current-gen sports to make way for the next-gen. I know it's not a very bold prediction but it's the truth. The imminent release of MVP NCAA and Arena Football on PS2 & Xbox along with the NFL Head Coach Simulation game from EA this spring marks the end of current-gen only sports releases. MLB 2k6 and FIght Night Round 3 will both make their way to current gen and the 360 this spring, marking the end of new sports gaming goodness on current-generation systems. I would be very surprised to see a significantly changed NCAA or Madden on current-gen systems if released at all come this summer. Every generation of sports games has begun with football and ended with baseball.

MVP NCAA baseball will mark EA's first game to start using the ESPN license though it isn't used to it's fullest. I would assume we will see all ESPN has to offer to EA in their holiday sports titles though Fight Night Round 3 will also make use of the license.

In 2006, we will see baseball begin to make the transistion to the 360 and with any luck we will see a significant upgrade over the current-generation releases of MLB 2k6 since they have had more time to mess with the final hardware then the NHL and NBA teams did. Speaking of MLB 2k6, this will also mark the first year of the exclusive deal between Take-Two and MLB so it'll be the only game in town....(yes I know, 989 will still make a MLB game but when is the last time 989 made a good sports game)

Fight Night Round 3 will mark EA Chicago's first game for the 360 and from the one clip that has been released is any indication, it's going to be a graphical tour de force. Hopefully some of the animations transistions will be smoothed out and more will be shown to us as we get closer to release.

This summer will see the release of NCAA and Madden 2007(hopefully with all it's bells and whistles back) on the 360 and PS3 upon it's launch (a guess, but a pretty safe one). Hopefully we will see them build on and refine what worked and didn't work in the current 360 version.

Fall of 2006 will see the usual suspects....NHL 07, 2k7....NBA Live 07, 2k7.....Nascar 07....Tiger Woods 07.....you get the idea. I hope that we will start seeing what the new hardware is capable of with these titles as the launch releases gave us a glimpse of some things that are possible but seemed just to be appetizers of what's to come instead of being full-fledged next-gen sports titles.

Also in 2006, I predict that we will get our first glimpes of Gran Turismo for PS3 and Forza for 360....that should be an very intense battle for the gamer's simulation racer dollars. These games were amazing on current systems, it'll be interesting to see what these teams are able to pull off with better hardware at their disposal.

I will begin to try to make arrangements soon to get in touch with both EA and 2K about their sports products so that I will be able to bring previews and interviews to everyone who will listen. I will also try to hook up with any other company who announces a sports game that draws interest. Hopefully I will be able to keep you readers informed and deliver the type of info that you are looking for. I think it's going to a banner year for sports games and I'm more excited about this year's E3 than any other in recent years.

-Brad

Nintendo release the sales figures for current gen systems as well as some of their franchise sales figures. These are sure to impress you.

The Nintendo DS has an impressive amount of sales figures with 2.37 million units sold in the US out of a 8.83 million units sold worldwide. The software sales for the Nintendo ds have reached 5.16 million US, 23.8 million worldwide; showing a discrepancy in software/hardware ratios with the US at 2.17:1 vs. the rest of the world at 2.6:1.

The Gamecube has hit 10 million units in the US and 19.31 million worldwide. GameCube software sales have reached 79.49 million in the US and 169.51 million worldwide.

All the versions of the Gameboy combined have sold 29.8 million units in the US and 70.04 million units worldwide. Worldwide, the Game Boy Advance software number is 296.12 million.

Currently Nintendo have sold 360 million units of software in the US, and 2.09 billion units of software worldwide.

They also revealed the stats for their top five franchises:
Mario (1984): 184 million
Pokemon (1996): 143 million
Zelda (1986): 47 million
Donkey Kong (1981): 44 million
Metroid (1986): 11 million

Now i can't be the only one who thinks they sound impressive.

-George

News is very slow across gaming land which is rather strange really, i would at the least have expected Sony or Nintendo to release something about their next-gen consoles through the Xbox 360's launch period. Anyway i thought these charts might interest you, or they might just interest the UK readers if there are any.

Mario Smash Football races into the Gamecube number one spot, while on the DS Mario Kart maintains the top place in the chart. In the GBA chart Bratz Rock Angels has sneaked up a place in the chart and is now directly below Pokemon emerald. Keep on reading if you are a very curious person or if you have nothing better to do.

Continue reading "Nintendo UK Sales Charts"

Sorry for posting this much later than I wanted.
By now I'm sure you've all heard the Rumors about the Rev.
Well tonight is when the specs are "rumored" to be released.
Suped up xbox, 128 RAM, current generation technology..... blah blah blah
Come on people only 128 MB of RAM thats probably just an alpha dev kit. And remeber people the Rev will have to support UE3 (only because it has to in the eyes of the hardcore) and you have to remember that the Rev is very small so heat and size is a real issue for the componenets.

Now this part is mostly an editorial, but you won't be dissapointed ;-)
So lets go through the Rev rumors

Continue reading "Tonight's the Revolution?"

Yep, you just read that correctly the revolution will be fully unveiled in less than 165 days. Of course that date means that Nintendo shall be unveiling it at E3. Today gamers were given a definite date for the full unveiling of the revolution "all the incredible details about Nintendo's upcoming games and hardware, including [their] next home console, code-named Revolution". This also means that we shall finally find out the proper name for the system as well. specifically Nintendo will unveil it at their pre-E3 press conference at 9:30 a.m. Pacific time on May 9, 2006. At the Kodak theatre Hollywood, California.

Continue reading "Revolution to be Unveiled May 9th"

Joystiq asked their readers to share their opinion on what nintendo's biggest mistake has been so far. 5,814 votes were cast and the biggest mistake nintendo have made according to the readers is.......

Continue reading "Nintendo's Biggest Mistake"

Nintendo recently announced, it will include a "play control system" in their revolution console. Adults will use a password controlled setting to decide what flexibility to give to young players, 3+, 7+, 12+, 16+ or 18+. The system also ensures dedicated adult gamers can opt to play without limitations.

Continue reading "Nintendo Announce Parental Control for the Revolution"

When a statement was issued in August, with the information that the new Zelda installment had been postponed to a 2006 release. Many expected this to mean that the game would now be shipping in the first quarter of 2006. You can imagine what rumours came up on internet forums when,