News

Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News, Wii | 1 Comment

Press Your Luck® 2010 Edition Now on Store Shelves

SAN FRANCISCO – November 5, 2009 – Ubisoft today announced the official launch of Press Your Luck® 2010 Edition. Currently available for the Nintendo Wii(TM) system, the Nintendo DS(TM) system and Windows-based PC, Press Your Luck® 2010 Edition features single- or multiplayer modes so that more people can get in on the fun and play together. Additionally, the game allows players to design and customize their own personal avatar. The game has been created by Ludia and is licensed by FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME).

Press Your Luck® is a true-to-life revival of the famous game show from the 80’s rendered with a dynamic new design. Players assume the role of one of the three contestants competing to win by answering a series of trivia questions correctly, to earn “spins” on the Big Board of cash and prizes. All of the elements of the original TV game show, including thousands of general knowledge trivia questions to challenge players, are included, as well as animations of the memorably mischievous Whammy character to punctuate the game. Whichever player ends the game with the highest earnings wins, while successfully avoiding the dreaded Whammy or risk losing it all. Additionally, there are a host of special unlockable items to reward players for progress in the game.

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Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News | 0 comments

Thanks to Ross M for the news tip!

Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

Namco Bandai will be making a “major announcement” in a week, but there are a few clues as to what this game may actually be. First, when you visit the teaser site, the page says that it’s “Next RPG Project K.” So, it’s probably an RPG. There’s also some speculation that the game may be a new Tales title for the DS.

Teaser site here

Thanks to Thomas N for the news tip!

Source

Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

This response comes from Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, again, from the Q&A portion of Nintendo’s latest financial briefing. Iwata was addressing the question of “if a decrease in the current financial performance is rather temporary” and if Nintendo will “be able to put the company back to the growth orbit” thanks to “the strong software lineup.”

“I cannot understand at all why some people come to think that Nintendo has lost its edge as soon as they hear such news that other companies are newly applying for motion sensing technology. If fun and interesting software to take advantage of the technology could be created that easily, a number of other titles which are more fun than Wii Sports must have been already launched for Wii. Why in real life are not so many? The total power factor to combine both the technologies and software at the appropriate level must be the reason why Nintendo has been appreciated in the marketplace, and when someone argues that Nintendo has lost its edge when the actual products have not been launched yet, I feel something must be wrong here.”

Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii | 1 Comment

This is yet another snippet from Nintendo’s Q&A session of the company’s latest financial briefing. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata was asked about the connection rates of the DS and Wii (including Wii no Ma). According to Iwata, “the connection of Wii is around 35%, in the Japanese market. And that of DS is probably, 20% or so. It had increased with the measures like Nintendo Zone with McDonald’s to lower the hurdle for connection, but has not reached the 30% mark.” He then went on to discuss digital distribution:

“And regarding your question about the download sales including WiiWare and DSiWare, so-called digital distribution in English, there is actually a variety of views about how much it will replace retailers and package software. Most radical people even dare to say that retailers will be replaced by digital distribution in no time. But personally, I think it will still require a significant amount of time. In other words, it will require many years and months for the majority of video game purchase to become digital. In short, in 20 years or so I might say it will have probably changed. But in 5 years or so, I do not totally agree with opinions that no one will purchase titles at retailers by then. Habits of life do not change such radically and quickly.

Personally, what I believe is the most important factor for Internet connection is expanding titles’ lifespan rather than replacing the packaged software to digital distribution. With the Internet connection, players can purchase additional features or receive extra services. As a result they will play a single software for a longer time without feeling bored and will not sell it to the used-game shops, which will then contribute to more software sales. I believe such a utilization of the Internet connection is one of the major directions we should aim for and we will continue to try and raise the connection ratio.”

Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii | 1 Comment

Adventure RPG Brings Dramatic Post-Apocalyptic World to Life

Torrance, Calif., (November 5, 2009) –XSEED Games announced today that FRAGILE: FAREWELL RUINS OF THE MOON will be published in North America under the new name FRAGILE DREAMS: FAREWELL RUINS OF THE MOON. Developed by NAMCO BANDAI Games and tri-Crescendo, and released by NAMCO BANDAI Games as Fragile: Farewell Ruins of the Moon in Japan, FRAGILE DREAMS: FAREWELL RUINS OF THE MOON will be available in North America in early 2010, exclusively for Wii™.

FRAGILE DREAMS: FAREWELL RUINS OF THE MOON finds protagonist Seto exploring an eerie and abandoned world, seemingly populated only by haunting ghosts and demons. Players utilize the Wii Remote™ as a flashlight to illuminate Seto’s surroundings, solve puzzles and interact with the environment. Gamers are immersed in an intensely cinematic experience where desolate, strangely beautiful atmospheres filled with gorgeous graphics and stunning lighting effects are brought to life by an emotional musical score. Explore the narrative of a lonely and lost soul as he encounters memorable characters and discover the back story behind scavenged items that provide insight on people’s last days before the apocalypse.

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Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii | 13 Comments

Update: Changed the video to a direct-feed version

Both the video and shots below are off-screen, but it’s amazes me that this is how we’re seeing the first footage of the game in action. We’re still waiting for a trailer, Activision!

Source

Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii | 3 Comments

Like most of Nintendo’s previous Wii peripherals, when the Wii Vitality Sensor was announced, many people were skeptical of the accessory’s functionality. The Vitality Sensor is still pretty mysterious, as we only truly know that it has the ability to “sense the user’s pulse and a number of other signals being transmitted by their bodies.” However, Satoru Iwata promised investors at the Q&A session of the company’s latest financial briefing that it is more than a simple pulsimeter.

“If Wii Vitality Sensor is simply a pulsimeter, we did not need such a grandiose announcement. It is a tool to analyze various biological signals by scanning the pulse, in order to make something invisible visible. The point with that is you can figure out your current conditions. I believe many of you have figured out with “Wii Fit”, by weighing yourself every day you could figure out how the weight would change according to what you had done. Personally I have figured out how dining-out exactly affects my weights. And there are still more invisible factors, which Wii Vitality Sensor can make into something visible, by putting your finger on that every day.

I have to refrain from disclosing too much to keep the surprises of announcement; but please note that Wii Vitality Sensor is not a simple pulsimeter. I have a strong feeling something fun will appear around this gadget, and am planning to put it as one of the next year’s main topics.”

Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News | 0 comments

Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii | 9 Comments

HD graphics was a huge topic discussed during Nintendo’s Q&A session of the company’s latest financial briefing. We’ve posted the pertinent quotes below.

“I believe that we should take the most appropriate balance. We are not too much concerned about if the technology itself is the state-of-the-art or rather old-fashioned. If we can find out the most appropriate medium, between SD and HD, and flexibly move around them depending on the game’s contents, it will be good, I think.” – Genyo Takeda, General Manager, Integrated Research & Development Division

“As long as my way of making games are concerned, all I am concerned about technologies is, we probably cannot swim against the tide. The customers’ tastes will become more and more refined. Even today, many customers who have seen HD once say they cannot go back to SD. On the other hand, quite a few of us are accepting 5.1 channel even though they are not true 5.1 channel or embracing HD even though they are not true HD…So, if we try to intensify that portion, if we are simply intensifying what is actually SD to look like HD with the hardware support, it can be understood rather easily. So, development costs associated with HD graphics will have to further increase.” – Shigeru Miyamoto

“…Regarding the question of SD or HD, it must depend on each software. For example, we have to ask ourselves if HD is really necessary to develop Wii Fit. Won’t HD be better for the games like Pikmin? The developers should choose the most appropriate graphical format depending on the software they make. To Nintendo, our theme is how we can prepare the SDK library to cater to the needs of the developers, with which the developers can more easily develop their games. In fact, Nintendo has been working with such mission.” – Shigeru Miyamoto

“Next, let me talk a bit from an engineer’s viewpoint…I hate to tell this as Mr. Takeda is sitting next to me today, but in the days of Nintendo64, we were not able to make the program run properly without us making a lot of extra and seemingly unnecessary efforts. However, Nintendo GameCube and Wii are made so that programmers do not have to beat our brains out or making many extra works, so I feel that the programming has become fairly easy. Mr. Takeda himself has learned from Nintendo64 and has been specifically focusing on how possibly the hardware people can make the platform which gives the least amount of hardship to software engineers. I would like to believe that he will keep this spirit for any future products.” – Satoru Iwata

“Each company and each developer must have its own opinion about how they develop games as well as how they conduct their businesses. Some companies have internally consistent opinions, and some others have different opinions among the developers and engineers as to HD or more sophisticated graphics. When a company believes in the need of advanced graphics in order to differentiate itself from the others, which is commonplace, the development cost naturally increases…It can easily be understood that making profits is becoming harder and harder….As I explained by comparing the memory sizes of a NES game and Blue-ray as an example, the development costs are increasing for the third parties. Recognizing the circumstance, our position is to cooperate wherever appropriate in order to realize the most desirable results.” – Shinji Hatano, General Manager, Marketing Division