REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Nintendo is dropping the suggested retail price of its Wii™ system to $149.99 and including a Mario™ game with the Wii hardware. Starting May 15, the newly priced Wii system will come in either black or white with the Mario Kart™ Wii game and a matching colored Wii Wheel™ accessory, replacing the previously included Wii Sports™ and Wii Sports Resort™ games.
Also on May 15, Nintendo launches the new Nintendo® Selects collection of Wii games, a set of popular games that millions of people have already experienced, at a suggested retail price of $19.99. The four must-own games in this collection are The Legend of Zelda™: Twilight Princess, Animal Crossing™: City Folk, Mario™ Super Sluggers and Wii Sports, which is available for the first time as a separate software purchase. Parents and video game fans can now easily expand their library of fun, family-friendly Wii games.
Plants Vs Zombies (DSiWare: PopCap, 800 Nintendo DSi Points)
Ikibago (DSiWare: Neko Entertainment, 500 Nintendo DSi Points)
Where’s Wally? Fantastic Journey 3 (WiiWare: Ludia, 500 Wii Points)
I’m not exactly sure why, but someone decided to play the trailer music from GDC trailer of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Normally you wouldn’t expect anything to come from doing something like that, but man… in this case, something totally awesome was discovered. Take a listen:
The reversed song – especially the first few moments of the music – will be instantly recognizable to Zelda aficionados. You have to wonder if Nintendo did this intentionally. Even if they did, it’s still a very neat easter egg!
Thanks to Jake for the tip!
Understandably, third-parties are tight-lipped when it comes to talking about Project Cafe. We’ll likely see at least a few announcements from companies other than Nintendo at E3, but until then, don’t expect developers and publishers to openly discuss their thoughts on the system’s capabilities and reveal any games they are working on. However, THQ did offer the following quote during a financial results conference call that took place just a short while ago:
“We are excited about the prospect of new hardware next year and look forward to working on that system.”
“Without a doubt, my first request would be for an improved digital marketplace more along the lines of XBLA and PSN. We’d love to be able to offer downloadable titles for Nintendo fans in a more user and publisher friendly environment. Two additional possibilities that we’d love to look at would be a camera for augmented reality and stereoscopic 3D.” – Steve Couture, Frima Games, CEO
“I think our wishes are pretty basic. We’d love more processing power, which is essential, and a better GPU as well. Aside from that I think the key to success would be to improve the whole shop system.” – Ole Teglbjaerg, Press Play, Director
“My biggest wish would be for Nintendo to open up development to everyone just like on iOS. It’s obvious that it will never happen but I might as well wish big. At the very least, they could make it easier for indie developers to make games on the new device and have a better, more thought out digital store. As far as hardware goes, It would be nice if you didn’t need a separate dev kit to make games for it – that you have the ability to develop right on the retail version of the device. From the consumer perspective, I’m sure Nintendo will put lots of interesting bells and whistles on the device. The iPad-like controller sure sounds interesting (although a little expensive if I need to buy 4 controllers for multiplayer).” – Dave Castelnuovo, Bolt Creative
“I’m always excited about a new console from Nintendo because I know they’re going to innovate somehow and do something creative. They never fail to do that. On top of that, their games are always fantastic and I just can’t wait to play their games so it comes hand in hand. So those are the things that I’m – I know it’s not anything specific on a tech basis, but those [tech] things excite me far less than some of the innovations and some of the games that Nintendo’s going to make. So that’s what I look for from Nintendo – something new and fresh, something of very high quality. That’s what gets me excited.” – Denis Dyack, Silicon Knights, President
It’s no surprise that one of the common desires among developers is an improved online/digital service. I think the 3DS eShop will be a good indication of how things will play out on Project Cafe. I’m also hoping that Nintendo will take online another step further with the console – let’s get rid of those Friend Codes once and for all!
Nintendo is beginning to send out invitations for their E3 2011 press conference, and the notice confirms that the event will kick off at 9 AM PDT on June 7. Like last year, the conference will be held at the Nokia Theater. Expect Reggie Fils-Aime to take the stage, as well as Satoru Iwata and possibly Shigeru Miyamoto. Start counting the days… we’re officially five weeks away from the unveiling of Project Cafe.
