WiiWare
– Muscle March (NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe, 500 Wii Points)
Virtual Console
– Milon’s Secret Castle (HUDSON SOFT, NES, 600 Wii Points)
– CASTLEVANIA RONDO OF BLOOD (KONAMI, Turbografx, 900 Wii Points)
DSiWare
– Photo Dojo (Nintendo, 200 Nintendo DSi Points)
– Flips: The Enchanted Woods (Electronic Arts, 500 Nintendo DSi Points)
– Libera Wing (Pixel Federation, 800 Nintendo DSi Points)
– Flashlight (Kaasa, 200 Nintendo DSi Points)
– Car Jack Streets (Tag Games, 800 Nintendo DSi Points)
That’s right – This commercial is running on television right now!
“It’s a priority for us bringing a range of entertainment. It’s a priority for us to have a range of third party licensees see success on the platform. It’s a priority for us to make sure that every consumer has content that they’re going to enjoy.
“Now, the challenge for us is that we, ourselves, Nintendo, don’t create that type of content. We’re not experts at it. Our developers don’t particularly enjoy making that content. They probably could make stellar content, if they chose to. We choose to do something else. So it really is up to the third party developer to create that great content and bring it to life on the platform.” – Reggie Fils-Aime
Nintendo has never been known for creating mature games. Their in-house development studios aren’t big on that genre. However, Nintendo has published some M-rated titles, such as Perfect Dark, Geist, and most recently, Zangeki no Reginleiv.
PSP – 39,125
Wii – 31,460
PS3 – 26,481
DSi LL – 21,604
DSi – 13,581
DS Lite – 3,920
Xbox 360 – 2,668
PS2 – 1,825
PSP go – 1,191
For comparison’s sake, here are the numbers from March 1st (last week).
PSP – 64,808
Wii – 33,880
PS3 – 28,824
DSi LL – 23,611
DSi – 15,017
DS Lite – 4,316
Xbox 360 – 2,764
PS2 – 1,839
PSP go – 1,275
Sega West boss Mike Hayes on whether it’s unfair to compare PlayStation Move to the Wiimote…
“Yes, I think that is unfair. Let’s not forget that Sony has launched hugely successful peripherals before. Whether it’s EyeToy or its controllers, Sony has been there and had great success.
But also, how bad is a comparison with Wii? It’s one of the most successful consoles of all time. For something like PlayStation 3, that surely allows a motion controller to do some pretty great things.
We don’t have a crystal ball, but would I bet a lot of my salary on Microsoft and Sony will make a success of these devices? I think the chances are high.
Microsoft are clearly taking Natal very seriously and spending a lot of money on it. Sony are doing the same – and they have the track record to go with it.”
Hayes on whether SEGA would consider a MadWorld sequel, possibly on different platforms…
“As Blackadder would say: ‘Yes… and no.’
It’s something we’ve looked at and it’s something we constantly talk about. But there are no firm things to discuss on that at the moment.”
Hayes on SEGA’s core Wii strategy and whether the company will reduce the amount of core games for Wii…
“No, not at all – you’ll see that at E3. One of the things is whether they’re super-mature – that’s a different thing. But the Wii market is huge. Going for the super-hardcore? Probably, the answer is not. But do we think there are edgy games we can bring out on Wii? Yes.”
I’d be totally shocked if a MadWorld sequel was released for Wii. It was a critical success, but a financial flop. I don’t think SEGA would be willing to risk another MadWorld title on Wii.
Thanks to jcr for the news tip!
This is starting to get confusing! First we heard that, at one point, there was a possibility that Metroid: Other M would be on-rails. But then we heard that Sakamoto was misinterpreted. Now, Sakamoto says that while the game isn’t on-rails, it does have some elements from the genre. Perhaps you’ll get a better understanding of the situation after you read the quote below…
“It’s impossible to say that there aren’t any remnants of design at all of a rail shooter, but no, this is not something we imagined as a rail shooter at this point…For example, if you were going straight on a control pad it is very much straight in the game. So while it is not an on-the-rail shooter, you will notice very much some guidance, especially when you are taking turns. We feel these are real positive experiences and additions to the game. If we had thought of making this from the ground up as a first-person shooter there wouldn’t have been nearly as many opportunities for us to bring fresh design ideas. It wouldn’t have been as fun. Similarly if we had aimed at it being solely 2D there wouldn’t have been as many opportunities here. Remember, 2D Metroid, if you just shot at the right height lined up at the target the bullets were going to hit the enemies. A lot of people played those games purely out of habit, because they were so immersed in that world at that time. As you said, some of those games you just couldn’t make now. They have a feeling that has been lost to some extent. But we wanted to bring a little bit of that old feeling back while melding that nostalgia with the evolution of the gameplay experience here.” – Metroid co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto
