wii console reviews

Video downloads for Nintendo consoles

2009-04-08T11:40:00.000-07:00

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, has just unveiled plans for a video-on-demand service on DS and Wii.

Of course, such a move is not exactly unexpected when Nintendo’s rivals have been making such big strides in the video arena recently. Nintendo stands a slightly better than decent chance of seizing the lion’s share of the console video download market from the outset too, what with such gargantuan audiences for both its home and portable consoles. Put another way Nintendo certainly has the numbers to attract the very biggest blockbusters.

From what we understand the Wii will be the main hub of the new service, with DS owners then transferring video content to their handhelds for viewing on the hoof, so to speak. We’re more intrigued by Mr Iwata’s comments to The Wall Street Journal, though:

“There are a lot of on-demand video services, so there’s no reason to do the same thing, so we’re going to do something different.”

What’s he talking about? We’ve no idea but we can’t wait to find out - a Japanese trial of the service is touted for later this year. Meantime we’re thinking a simple software update allowing for a better display from the Wii, movies stored on SD cards, WiiMote menu navigation and the whole thing looking a bit rubbish on DS. But you never know. Much more soon, we hope…

Wii production costs halved

2009-04-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

The estimable of Credit Suisse banking corporation Koya Tabata has told investors that the cost of manufacturing the Wii has shrunk by 45% since the console first launched. Can you guess where we’re going with this?

Whether Mr. Tabata’s estimate is based on industry-sourced fact or pure guesswork remains unknown. Then again it’s supremely likely that Nintendo, having sold untold squillions of units thus far, will have worked out many ways to make cost efficiencies by now. All of which must leave Nintendo with lots of room to manoeuvre on the Wii’s actual selling price. Question is, will they?

Sadly, the answer looks like being no. The Wii is already very keenly priced and Nintendo seems to have no trouble in shifting every unit it manufactures. It’s a well known fact that Nintendo makes money on every console it sells too - i.e. unlike its rivals. Small wonder, then, that Nintendo of America’s Reggie Fils-Aime is moved to comment “Why would we?”.

Well, er, slowing sales in the West and being beaten by the Playstation 3 in Japan are just a couple of reasons off the top of our heads, Reggie. But you’re the boss…

Silent Hill horror adventure is being re-imagined for Wii

2009-04-08T11:20:00.000-07:00

Silent Hill horror the original adventure is being realised for the popular consoles among us.

Deep chills are coming this autumn and not just from the inclement British weather. Konami is hauling Silent Hill twitching and screaming to Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable (PSP) – a remake of the first and most memorable Silent Hill episode originally released for PlayStation in 1999.

It’ll carry the name Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, which is apt since proceedings are said to be very different to how you might remember them. The scenario remains basically the same, but there are new clues and paths to follow. It’ll be like reliving the same nightmare but in more vivid detail with things not quite in the right place. Mo-th-er!

On Nintendo Wii the trademark torch used by hero Harry Mason in search of his missing daughter will be controlled using the Wii remote. It’ll also double as a mobile phone, which we imagine will make you look quite ridiculous but probably you’ll be playing with the lights out anyway. This mobile phone also has a camera to take snapshots for reference, but we’re not sure if this is scripted or random. Since Silent Hill is heavily puzzle-oriented the Wii version lets you pick up and examine objects to figure things out.

All three versions of the game incorporate a new ‘psyche profile’ feature, a system that allows Harry Mason to learn from his experience – sensing danger or safety around certain characters and reminding him if something seems familiar: "You've been down this alley 20 times already you dimwit!"

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is released for Wii, PSP and PS2 this autumn.

Wii Reigns Supreme On EBay 2008 Top Gadget List

2009-03-19T10:55:00.000-07:00

The Nintendo Wii took the #1 spot in eBay's 2008 tech toys and gadgets top list, with over 2 million related items sold on the site. The Xbox360 was next at 1.3 million, followed by the Sony PSP and iPod touch.

The full list is below.

Nintendo Wii: 2,056,866 related items soldMicrosoft Xbox360: 1,297,903 related items soldSony PSP: 350,591 related items sold iPod Touch: 281,361 related items soldNintendo Wii Fit: 266,584 related items soldApple iPhone 3G: 212,837 related items soldBlackBerry Pearl:207,688 related items soldBlackBerry Curve: 193,788 related items soldSony Playstation 3: 103,333 related items soldGuitar Hero III: 98,159 related items soldHalo 3: 91,067 related items soldGrand Theft Auto IV: 43,005 related items soldMacBook Air: 12,423 related items soldGuitar Hero Aerosmith: 3,749 related items soldRock Band 2?s: 1,650 related items sold .

WiiPrice.ws Launches New Website to Assist Consumers

2009-03-19T10:52:00.000-07:00

GameStop's Bountiful Q4; Rare's Layoffs; Wii's Women

2009-03-19T10:49:00.000-07:00

GameStop's stock rises on '09 guidance: The game retailer turned in stellar Q4 and full year numbers: Q4 revenues were up 22 percent to $3.5 billion, while 2008 revenues were up 24 percent to $8.8 billion. GameStop's 2009 guidance also topped the Street's expectations: it expects overall sales growth of about 10 to 12 percent, and EPS growth of 18 to 22 percent. Analysts were expecting sales growth of just 10 percent and EPS growth of 16 percent, per the WSJ. The results sent GameStop's shares up 11 percent in early trading. Release.

Microsoft's Rare cuts 12 jobs, more to come: The Viva Pinata studio has laid off 12 staffers from its engineering and art teams, GamesIndustry.biz reports, with project lead reductions to follow. Microsoft said it would be restructuring Rare earlier this week, but didn't provide details on how many staffers would be let go.

Wii's appeal among women, young boys: Nielsen's latest GamePlay Metrics data confirms what most game industry execs take for granted: the Nintendo Wii's audience skews younger and much more female than the other consoles'. Boys aged 6-11, women aged 18-24 and women 35+ flock to the Wii, while the Xbox 360 attracts mostly boys aged 12-17 and women aged 25-34. On the other hand, the audience for Sony's PS3 seems to be the "typical" gamer demo: it attracts mostly males and females aged 18-24.

Gaming Roundup: YouTube/PS3/Wii; VGAs; 1Up Editor Defects To Ignition

2009-03-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

Watch YouTube through PS3, Wii: PS3 and Wii owners can now watch YouTube through their console's browser.
The beta YouTube for Television site has enlarged text and simplified navigation that makes it easier for gamers to navigate with their controllers.
Noticeably absent from the pack is the Xbox 360, though the YouTube blog said support for additional devices was coming down the pike.

Google already has deals to connect YouTube directly to TVs from Sony and Panasonic, as well as AppleTV and TiVo.

VGA online viewership up; TV ratings down: Arguably one of the more expensive mainstream gaming events, SpikeTV's Video Game Awards attracted a sizable online audience this year: total video streams hit 350,000?up 30 percent from 2007?and the VGA site got more than 1.3 million pageviews. But according to Variety, all the celebrity appearances and exclusive game trailers didn't woo as many TV viewers as last year: just 680,000 people watched the awards the night they debuted?down 26 percent from 2007?and the second lowest since their inception in 2004. The awards also didn't do very well with Spike's sweet-spot demo: just 229,000 men aged 18-34 watched that night, down 29 percent year-over-year, and the lowest ever for the show.

Pawn That Wii -- It's Time For a Nice Cheap Board Game

2009-03-19T10:41:00.000-07:00

It's Toy Fair time, when thousands of grown-ups who live and breathe toys -- as inventors, manufacturers and retailers -- gather in the toy capital of the world to show and see what's new for the coming year. If there were a Furby-like frenzy in our future, this is where you'd find it.

Except that you probably won't, because toymakers are definitely playing it safe. The scene at Toy Fair is a lot like the scene at home -- anxious and thrifty, but still trying to find a way to have fun. That effort is evident in the constant crashing, flying, spinning, whirring and beeping of demo toys all around.

What's missing from Toy Fair this year is the "wow" factor -- the cool ideas that cause so many conversations to start with "have you seen . . . ?" This year, even reliable innovators like Spin Master -- whose recent revolutionary hits include the car that drives on walls and the molding sand called Moon Sand -- are flaunting only additions and improvements to their existing lines.

Eh.

"Kids are still going to play, and parents are still going to buy toys. We just have to adjust to these new economic realities," said toy analyst Chris Byrne. Those realities mean toy buyers such as Brad MacIntyre, who owns three stores around Toronto, are walking around Toy Fair looking in vain for that one "big" toy. "We've seen a lot of little things that are good," he said with a shrug.

Toymakers have gotten the message that Mom and Dad want to buy toys that will be enjoyed over and over: dolls, games, arts and crafts, activity toys like yo-yos, sporting goods such as scooters. Lego is doing extremely well in this economy, and Crayola had the biggest sales week in the history of the company right before Christmas, when nearly everyone else in the industry was scraping by. "It's play that's powered by kids' imaginations," said Stacy Gabrielle, a Crayola spokeswoman.

And no batteries required.

Toywise, this year will feel awfully familiar. Toymakers are rushing to license brands we already know and love (think Disney) and to resurrect anything that was once a hit and could be again. There is an industrywide focus on games, too.

"In this particular economic environment, parents tend to do more things at home," explained Neil Friedman, president of Mattel. "They do more play dates, so games are always really strong in this type of economy."

Hasbro is about to launch a huge media campaign about how wonderful it is to stay home and play a game with the whole family.

"Staycations have replaced vacations," said John Frascotti, global chief marketing officer for Hasbro, maker of Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit, among others. "For $20 you can get a great [game] and have a terrific family activity. We think it's a great return to family time together, but with new games that are culturally relevant."

That relevance can be found in Team Trivial Pursuit, where the players are in teams so the clueless (or youngest) kid in the family won't get clobbered and start sulking. (It's also a little easier than the Trivial Pursuit of yore.) Or there's a new version of Clue that will send clues to your phone by text message, appealing to even the most disconnected teens. And Boggle can now be played on a Wii, because once you own that expensive system, well, you really ought to use it more.

DC Elementary School Puts Wii Music On the Curriculum

2009-03-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

Used to be parents rewarded kids for good academic performance with a little bit of after-school videogame time. These days, sometimes, videogames are in the classroom.

H.D. Cooke Elementary School, near Howard University, is getting a Wii today as part of a collaboration between Nintendo and the National Association for Music Education. The game company is donating hardware and software to schools in 51 cities across the country as part of the project.

Wii Music, the title that Nintendo is donating, isn't exactly a game. Players swing the game's controllers in time with music to mimic the motions they'd make to strum a guitar, say, or strike a set of drums. Spend some time with this title, the thinking goes, and young users may pick up some of the basics, such as rhythm, tempo and song structure.

This isn't the first time that music lovers have tried to pull kids in by appealing to their love of hit videogames such as Guitar Hero. Last summer, for example, a music store in Tenleytown sponsored a contest featuring that guitar game, in the hopes of attracting new music students.

"This is about kids learning about how to have fun with music," said J.C. Rodrigo, a marketing support specialist at Nintendo who is in town today, paying a visit to the school to demonstrate the title. "It's providing a unique experience where kids can try out different instruments and find that creative spark."

Carolyn Sweterlitsch, a music teacher at Cooke, said she hasn't figured out how frequently the school's new game system will be incorporated into her classes, but that she sees the game as a possible way to reward her students when they've been good in class. "This is another way of exposing them to these instruments and getting them excited [about music]," she said.