Wii U

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments

Satoru Iwata has admitted two significant faults with the Wii. First, he acknowledged that the console wasn’t able to meet the needs of hardcore gamers. And, second, Iwata noted that Nintendo wasn’t able to provide an experience that consumers could view on an HD television.

This was in response to a comment posed to the Nintendo president that the Wii U appears to be appealing more to hardcore gamer and first-person shooters. He explained that, this time around, the Wii U is HD ready and that it should be “be as powerful as any other console”. Also noteworthy, Iwata said that third-party publishers have been open to advancing the shooter genre thanks to the new controller.

Iwata’s full response:

In the case of the original Wii, our intent was to extend the gaming population, but of course we needed to think about how we were going to motivate non-gamers to play with video games, so we came up with Wii Sports and Wii Fit, as well as how the Wii system was designed.

For example, in the case of our products, approximately 50 percent of our users are a female audience, the other platforms are around 30 percent.

Read More

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments

This information comes from Ubisoft’s Michel Ancel, who was asked if believes Wii U is a next-generation machine…

“Not really. I think Wii U is next-gen in terms of interface. I think people are going to copy it, because you’ve got this mix between tablet, touch screen and big screen – big screen and little screen – there are a lot of possibilities. I don’t know if Sony will do it, or Microsoft – but yes, I think it’s a possibility. But I think the main thing is to have this – offering new ways to play is very interesting.”

As you can see above, Ancel didn’t exactly explain why he doesn’t view Wii U as a next-gen console. He seems to believe that the interface is, but not the console as a whole? I wonder why…

Source

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 1 Comment

It looks like Tomonobu Itagaki is much more interested in bringing Devil’s Third to Wii U than originally thought. Speaking with Impress Watch, Itagaki said that the team is actively looking into releasing the title for Nintendo’s upcoming console and is excited about the possibility.

Interestingly, Itagaki tried out the Wii U for the first time at E3 last week. He believes that the console was made with Japan in mind as Japanese homes are small and don’t often contain numerous televisions. According to Itagaki, Japan has moved into a more portable mindset due to this. He told Impress Watch that streaming feature is Nintendo’s way of tackling low console sales in Japan. He added, “I believe it is a good idea.”

Devil’s Third is set for release in early 2013.

Source

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments

This information comes from Nintendo’s UK marketing manager Rob Lowe…

“It’s absolutely fundamental to the success of Wii U to have better third party support than we’ve had in the past for our previous consoles. I think Mr Iwata totally recognises that. That’s why we had a Ubisoft round table session [during E3], that’s why John Ricitiello was on stage at our conference. And even at a local level we’re doing everything we can to support third parties much more than we have done in the past. It goes all the way through the company, from Nintendo Japan, to Nintendo Europe, to Nintendo UK. It’s very different for us to act like that because traditionally we would invest our time and money more into first party. We have a sightly different business model to Microsoft and Sony, who will obviously invest more money or marketing support in third party titles. It’s almost the opposite for us but I think we realise now we have to invest in a much bigger way in third party partners because there are certain types of games that we’re just not specialists at. If we want to create a console that will appeal across boundaries to all different types of gamers we’re going to need their support more than ever before. We’re hoping we’ll get a lot of exclusives as well because of the unique way the console is made. It is much easier for third parties to move their products across from Xbox 360 and PS3 to Wii U. However, the way that the controller has to make you think and make the developers think will hopefully mean that titles that are ported over will hopefully have individual features that aren’t on the other systems.”

You have to like how Nintendo is getting involved with third-parties so far. They’re publishing LEGO City Stories, had EA speak at their E3 conference, and had a roundtable at the show with Ubisoft. And there are also some amazing experiences on the way from outside companies. Having said that, I wonder how long third-parties will stick around if they start seeing poor sales for the hardcore titles they’re pushing out on the Wii U.

Source

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, GameCube, News, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments

Nintendo of America PR director Mark Franklin on whether developers are required to use the screen transfer feature in every game…

“We’re not making any prerequisites to any of the developers to say ‘you have to do this, you have to do that.’ What we’re showing at this year’s show is just the possibilities. That’s just an example. Certainly, that’s a possibility.

Franklin on how easy it is for developers to implement the screen transfer feature…

“I’m not going to get into the technical side, but it’s certainly up to the developers to make that choices. We’ve shown what’s possible and now it’s up to the developers to come up with content.”

Read More

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 1 Comment

This information comes from Animal Crossing director/producer Katsuya Eguchi, who was asked a Wii U game can be used if you’ve stepped away from the television…

“The thought is you’ll be playing in the same room that the base console is in.”

There has been a bit of conflicting comments about how far the range of the Wii U controller will stretch. I think we should just treat the controller and console as a unit that won’t stray too far from the television. You might be able to take the controller to a few rooms nearby, but don’t expect a far range…

Source

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 1 Comment

It’s great to hear Suda51 talk about No More Heroes 3 once more. It feels like it was ages ago when he said that he would make the next game in the series for Nintendo’s next console!

Source

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments

This information comes from Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli…

“Crytek’s support for Wii U is definitely going to happen. We aren’t showing it but we are pretty much running it already.”

The more third-party support, the better! Crytek’s engine and technology should certainly be capable of running smoothly on Wii U since the console can definitely match the power of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. I wonder how open they’ll be to bringing concrete games to the Wii U…

Source

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 1 Comment

Much to the disappointment of fans, how Wii U handles online gaming is something that Nintendo has yet to truly discuss. We’ve received a few hints, a few teases, and small bits of information. Yet the manner in which the system will work and what Nintendo intends to do to improve upon their past failures with online is still a mystery.

However, Nintendo UK Marketing manager Rob Lowe has provided some insight as to what the company has planned. According to Lowe, Nintendo is striving for an online experience “much closer” to Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network. It sounds like friend codes will be returning once again, but they’ll apparently be “refined.”

Read on below for Lowe’s full comments:

“I think that in a similar way that we waited until HD technology was almost ubiquitous before we went in there with an HD console, it’s similar with the penetration of wi-fi. I think now almost every home has wi-fi or broadband. It’s a universal truth that everybody is connected online and that wasn’t the case when the Wii came out five years ago. If you look at 3DS and the online of that you’ll get an understanding of where we’re going with Wii U and we’re taking that even further. We can’t talk about the details yet as Mr Iwata will announce those slightly later. But with the online of 3DS it’s obviously a massive leap on from where we were with DSi and DSi XL. It’s smooth, robust, it doesn’t drop in and out. The friend code system has also been refined. It still exists but in the same way that you’d need to pair up with friends on PSN or Xbox live. Now it’s much closer to that kind of online gaming experience than what it was before. We always try and strike a balance. Because we do have more younger consumers than any other hardware manufacturer or games brand we need to protect them while also making it as accessible as possible for the more active and hardcore consumers to go online. With Wii U I think that we’ve already hinted that we’re looking at getting people in that know and understand online gaming as it’s something that perhaps we’ve struggled with in the past.”

Source

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments

Game of Show

Battlefield 3
BioShock Infinite
Mass Effect 3
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
Batman: Arkham City
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Tomb Raider

Best Action/Adventure Game

Tomb Raider
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
BioShock Infinite
Zelda: Skyward Sword
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
Batman: Arkham City
Hitman Absolution
Ninja Gaiden 3
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Dead Island

Read More