Update: Also revealed at the conference, a black version of the Wiimote/nunchuck/Wii jacket will release this holiday. According to Nintendo, they will be in short supply.
On Saturday, we posted about the North American DSi launch for the pink and white handhelds, which was discovered over on Amazon. However, now the September 13th release date is practically a guarantee. News from the GameStop Manager’s conference in Las Vegas has apparently confirmed that the new colors will arrive in less two weeks. No press release has been sent out as of yet, but look for Nintendo to make an announcement very soon.
Keep in mind that Square Enix may update their TGS site over the next few days/weeks with additional titles.
Playable titles
– Final Fantasy Gaiden: Four Warriors of Light
– Final Fantasy XIII
– Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
– Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
– Front Mission Evolved
– Seiken Densetsu 2
– Dragon Quest Fushigi no Dungeon
Video only
– Dissidia Universal Tuning
– Final Fantasy XIV
– Dragon Quest Monsters Battle Road II
– Lord of Vermillion II
– Final Fantasy XI Vana’diel Collection 2
– Kingdom Hearts Coded
– Final Fantasy IV The After Years
– Dragon Quest IX
Not present
– Final Fantasy Versus XIII
– Final Fantasy Agito XIII
– The 3rd Birthday
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption featured the first heavy dialogue voice overs in a Metroid game. Actually, the first few minutes of the game sported more exchanges than what can be seen in all of the other Metroid titles put together.
In one particular scene, Admiral Dane says, “Damn! They’re targeting the planetary-defense system.” Yet Nintendo felt compelled to censor “damn” for the re-release of Corruption in Metroid Prime Trilogy. When playing through the game on the Trilogy disc, the sentence can now be seen/heard as “No! They’re targeting the planetary-defense system.”
It’s a bit odd that Nintendo changed one little word this time around. Most gamers probably wouldn’t even think twice about listening to the word “damn” while playing. Seeing as how Nintendo deemed it perfectly fine to leave it in there the first time, it makes one wonder what motivated the censorship of that one word.
Thanks to Ross M for the news tip!
Nintendo’s Denise Kaigler on a DSi Virtual Console…
“I’m glad that your readers are so enthusiastic about the potential for Nintendo DSi. That’s one of the things that’s so great about the system: It fires up the imaginations of developers and users alike to come up with creative new features and content. Unfortunately, a portable Virtual Console isn’t something that we have plans for right now. It’s an intriguing idea, but I have to give you a straight answer, even if it isn’t the one you necessarily want to hear.”
Denise Kaigler on Club Nintendo…
“Well, we can’t announce new specific items until all the details have been locked down. Sometimes that’s frustrating to us as well, since we want to get the news to Nintendo fans as soon as we know about it.
…Because you asked, I wouldn’t dare let this Nintendo Minute expire without leaving you with one, albeit small, piece of insider information about Club Nintendo. Keep your eyes on the Club Nintendo Web site in September. That’s when we will offer members some exclusive Nintendo artwork. For the reason I mentioned earlier, I can’t say any more than that right now – it’s a secret to everybody. I’m really sorry. Hopefully some of you will enjoy it. Others may choose to hang on to the Coins and wait for a different reward. I love surprises. I hope you do as well.”
Would it be too much to ask for more Zelda Wii artwork? That’d probably be too good to be true, wouldn’t it?
It may not seem like there has been a huge jump in the overall average compared to last year, but now the system is right around where the quality of PS3/360 games stand. Titles such as MadWorld, House of the Dead: Overkill, Punch-Out!!, and even Wii Sports Resort have contributed to the increase in review scores. And 2009 isn’t over yet – We still have Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii to look forward to, which will boost this year’s number even further.
Square Enix announced today that the official FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: THE CRYSTAL BEARERS Fan Site Kit (FSK) is now available for download at http://www.thecrystalbearers.com/.
The FSK (10 MB) includes all the materials bloggers and webmasters will need to create a compelling Crystal Chronicles-themed Web site, including artwork, characters, icons, monsters, screenshots and logos. FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: THE CRYSTAL BEARERS, the highly anticipated action-adventure game, will be available this winter, exclusively for Nintendo Wii.
About FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: THE CRYSTAL BEARERS
FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: THE CRYSTAL BEARERS provides a fresh take on the FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES series as it combines the storytelling depth, expansive world and graphical quality of FINAL FANTASY with motion-driven, real-time action gameplay. In this world, realistic gameplay and fantastical art direction are brought together for a truly unique experience for Wii users around the globe.
The developers of the Metroid Prime series have revealed an interesting nugget of information about the Metroid Prime series in a recent developer’s voice interview. Believe it or not, Retro Studios wasn’t thinking about making three Prime titles when creating the first game. Rather, it was something that was planned later on.
“Trilogy was not planned as a trilogy from the beginning.” – Mike Wikan, Senior Game Designer
“When we finished the first game us and Retro, were really happy. And that was the first time we thought about making a trilogy.” – Kensuke Tanabe, Producer
This was probably the case due to the amount of doubt the first Prime title faced before release. There was much skepticism that Metroid Prime could handle a successful transition from 2D to 3D in a first-person view. That obviously wasn’t the case, however, and Retro Studios went on to make two more games – Both of which were received very well by fans.
Remember when Nintendo said earlier this year that specific games would be released for the DSi? Well, apparently that’s going to happen sooner than we first thought. Sources have told Kotaku that DSi-only titles will begin to hit stores this fall.
However, unlike DS/DS Lite products, DSi games will arrive in their own packaging with completely white coloring (including the card itself). DSi titles will also carry a sticker to warn consumers that they will not work with the original DS/Lite. For now, it’s not clear if developers will be able to utilize some of the added upgrades over Nintendo’s previous handhelds for DSi games and at this time, Nintendo has yet to respond to any of the speculation.
