As many gamers know, id Software co-founder John Carmack delivered a keynote today at QuakeCon 2010. For Nintendo fans, the most interesting – albeit disappointing – news came towards the end of the Q&A session.
In terms of Wii development, it doesn’t sound like id Software will be making a game for the system anytime soon. Carmack told his team not too long ago that they could bring Rage from the iPhone to Nintendo’s home console – where it was originally born – but unfortunately, the company is skittish about the system. It was explained that a first-person shooter tanked on the Wii, which is probably a contributing factor to id Software’s overall disinterest in the console.
The possibility of id Software creating another title on the DS also isn’t likely. The company’s only piece of software for the handheld, Orcs and Elves, was released in 2007 and received a mostly positive critical reception. However, Carmack believes EA lost money on the game. One reason for that may be, as was stated, that it lacked elements to make it truly unique. Elaborating on the DS further, Carmack said id Software doesn’t possess enough focus at the moment to work with the portable once more.
Nintendo Sells More Than 650,000 Hardware Units in the U.S. in July
Nintendo sold more than 650,000 video game systems in July – more than any other company – according to the independent NPD Group, which tracks sales of video game products in the United States. The Nintendo DS™ family of systems sold nearly 400,000 in July, and Nintendo’s Wii™ console marked its 45th consecutive month of more than 250,000 units sold with July sales of nearly 254,000. These tallies bring the 2010 U.S. sales totals through the end of July for Nintendo DS to more than 3.4 million and Wii to more than 2.71 million.
Five of the top 10 best-selling games of July play on Nintendo systems. These include Super Mario Galaxy™ 2 for Wii at No. 4 with more than 192,000 sold, LEGO® Harry Potter™: Years 1-4 for Nintendo DS at No. 5 with nearly 142,000 sold, LEGO® Harry Potter™: Years 1-4 for Wii at No. 7 with more than 133,000 sold, DRAGON QUEST IX®: Sentinels of the Starry Skies™ for Nintendo DS at No. 8 with more than 132,000 sold and New Super Mario Bros.™ Wii at No. 9 with more than 128,000 sold.
Exclusive games for both Wii and Nintendo DS this fall and holiday season from both Nintendo and its third-party publishers demonstrate Nintendo’s commitment to provide unique game experiences that are only available on Nintendo platforms.
Some Wii-exclusive games on the horizon include Metroid™: Other M launching on Aug. 31, Samurai Warriors™ 3 on Sept. 27, Kirby’s Epic Yarn™ and Wii Party™ this fall, and Donkey Kong Country™ Returns, FlingSmash™ and PokéPark™ Wii: Pikachu’s Adventure for the holidays. Upcoming third-party Wii games include New Carnival Games® from 2K Play, NBA JAM from EA Sports, GoldenEye 007™ from Activision, Just Dance® 2 from Ubisoft, Disney Epic Mickey from Disney Interactive Studios and Sonic Colors™ from SEGA.
For the Nintendo DS family of systems, Professor Layton and the Unwound Future™ launches on Sept. 12, Pokémon Ranger™: Guardian Signs this fall and both Golden Sun™: Dark Dawn and Mario vs. Donkey Kong™: Mini-Land Mayhem for the holidays. Some top third-party games coming this fall include Super Scribblenauts™ from Warner Bros. and Rock Band® 3 from Electronic Arts/MTV.
For more information about Nintendo, visit http://www.nintendo.com.
Source: Nintendo PR
This month
1. NCAA Football 2011 (360) – 368K
2. NCAA Football 2011 (PS3) – 298.8K
3. Crackdown 2 – 208.8K
4. Super Mario Galaxy 2 – 193K
5. LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (DS) – 141.7K
6. Red Dead Redemption (360)
7. LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (Wii) – 133K
8. Dragon Quest IX – 132K
9. New Super Mario Bros. Wii – 128K
10. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (360)
360 – 443.5K
DS – 398.4K
Wii – 253.9K
PS3 – 214.5K
PSP – 84K
Last month
1. Red Dead Redemption (360) – 582.6K
2. Super Mario Galaxy 2 – 548.4K
3. Red Red Redemption (PS3) – 380.3K
4. New Super Mario Bros. Wii – 200.9K
5. Just Dance – 174.8K
6. Wii Fit Plus
7. Toy Story 3 (DS)
8. UFC 2010: Undisputed (360)
9. LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (Wii)
10. UFC 2010: Undisputed (PS3)
DS – 510.7K
360 – 451.7K
Wii – 422.5K
PS3 – 304.8K
PSP – 121.0K
Analysis from Anita Frazier:
“While video game retail sales show a very slight decline versus last July, we have to consider the success of Starcraft II this month, which helped the PC games category to realize a 103% increase in dollars over last July. PC Games and video game industry sales combined for an increase of 4% in revenues as compared to July’09.”
Kids, Teens, Adults and Seniors from Coast to Coast Get Up and Get Playing in Final Round of First-Ever Nationwide Wii Tournament
WHAT:
Participants and spectators from across the United States will come together in Los Angeles on Sept. 3-5 for the Wii Games: Summer 2010 national championship. As many as 90 winning teams from dozens of qualifying events held throughout the country will join six sweepstakes winners to participate in this first-of-its-kind tournament event. Players of all ages will enjoy the fun of Nintendo’s groundbreaking motion-control video games as they compete for prizes and celebrate the active, inclusive spirit of the Wii console. Olympic gold medalist and Dancing with the Stars champion Shawn Johnson, the official Wii Games: Summer 2010 Ambassador, will make a special appearance to lead participants in a Wii warm-up session on Sept. 3.
Winning teams representing the categories featured in the competition, such as Teen, Adult and Super Adult will receive prizes including custom Wii Remote™ controller-styled trophies, a Royal Caribbean family cruise, Netflix memberships, Wii prize packs and Panasonic entertainment systems during a special award presentation on Sept. 5. Throughout the tournament, families, fans and spectators will also be able to enjoy activities such as noncompetitive game demos. Full details, rules and regulations can be found at http://www.wiigames2010.com.
Since launching in 2006, the Wii console has expanded the global audience for video games, getting people of all ages and backgrounds off the couch and into the action with a wide variety of inclusive, easy-to-learn motion-control activities. To date, 30 million Wii consoles have been sold in the United States alone.
This information comes from Sonic Colors producer Takashi Iizuka…
“We know there are sometimes opinions about control from core gamers, but we’re intending Sonic Colours to be played by children of probably between six and twelve years-old. So, with Sonic Colours we have aimed more to make a game that everyone can control and have fun in. So, it’s not really a game for the core gamers. If you take the rail grind, it’s something that’s fast, not difficult but is fun to do and looks great. It’s about making a game that’s right for the core audience of the game.”
Even if this is true, I don’t know why Iizuka would say something like that. Such comments could very easily alienate hardcore Sonic fans who have been interested in purchasing the game. With that said, I suppose a well-made Sonic gamed aimed at children is better than a low-quality release. That is, if Sonic Colors is actually decent!
