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Post by Benjammin on Jul 14, 2006 2:38:19 GMT -5
Madden alone will boost sales for the Wii, because there are Madden fanatics out there who will be like "oh, PS3 is $600, Wii is $200-$250. Hmmm. Cheaper system." Nintendo has greatly helped their system out by bagging madden.
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Post by Matt on Jul 17, 2006 21:28:18 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300] Macronix Supplies Wii[/glow] Company says at least 35% of sales will come from mask ROM for Nintendo's new system.by Matt Casamassina July 17, 2006 - The Tappei Times is reporting that chipmaker Macronix expects at least 35% of its sales for the year to be generated from shipments of its mask ROM for use in Nintendo's upcoming Wii console. Macronix president Miin Wu confirmed that the company is supplying Nintendo with the solution, but would offer no further comment. Mask ROM is a read-only memory whose contents are programmed by the manufacturer. Mask ROM is generally cheaper than other formats, which makes it advantageous to Nintendo, a company hoping to keep costs low for its new generation console. wii.ign.com/articles/719/719299p1.html
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Post by Matt on Jul 18, 2006 12:42:49 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300] This just in![/glow] From G4's, The Feed: Nintendo seemingly accidently released a bunch of details about the Wii's wireless capabilities this morning. The webpage (http://wii.nintendo.com/wifi.html ) revealed the following: Nintendo's wireless wi-fi gaming will be totally free. Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam and Super Smash Brothers Dojo are mentioned as multi-player titles. A friends-list will "protect" you. Don't bother clicking the above link. It's been taken down... but we at the TheFeed care about you, so here's the page for you to drool over. Check it out! media.g4tv.com/downloads/aots/wiipage.BMP
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Post by supersaltine on Jul 18, 2006 12:52:00 GMT -5
noooooooooooooooo I have a wired router!
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Post by Matt on Jul 19, 2006 1:11:01 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Nintendo Fusion Tour announced, headlined by Hawthorne Heights[/glow]July 18, 2006 Relient K, Plain White T's, and others will round out the bill for the fourth annual gamer-friendly tour. Hawthorne Heights will headline the fourth annual Nintendo Fusion tour, which features a series of performers, and will give gaming fans the chance to check out the Nintendo DS Lite and the company's much-anticipated new system, Wii. Relient K, Emery, Plain White T's, and the Sleeping are also on the bill for the tour, which will hit around 40 cities between Sept. 27 and Nov. 11. "Nintendo always picks great rock bands, and we are happy to follow in that tradition this year," Hawthorne Heights singer JT Woodruff said in a statement. "But mainly, I am an old-school video game nerd." In the past, Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, My Chemical Romance, Story of the Year, Motion City Soundtrack, and Evanescence have been featured on the tour. Cities and venues will be announced shortly. Source: www.spin.com/features/news/2006/07/060718_hawthorne/Find out more about the tour here: www.nintendofusiontour.com/
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Post by Nick M on Jul 19, 2006 10:38:22 GMT -5
DAng that stinks. I hate all those bands(the ones I have heard of). Well I will still try and get tickets. Does this mean they are sneak preview Wiis or .... That the Wii will be out before then. I just cant see them showing it off to general public that far from a release date.So I am That the release date is early October. Who is with me? And understands why I believe that? -NicK-
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Post by Matt on Jul 19, 2006 13:35:11 GMT -5
If I find out anymore details, I'll post them here. Its really kinda early to tell.
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Post by Matt on Jul 22, 2006 23:29:40 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300] Comic-Con 2006: LucasArts Comments on Wii[/glow] The makers of Star Wars and Indiana Jones confirm future Wii support.by Mark Bozon July 21, 2006 - In a Star Wars panel this afternoon at the San Diego Comic-Con, LucasArts representative Steve Sansweet confirmed that the company that would be working with all three next generation systems, most importantly for us, the Wii. During the Q&A session, a younger gamer took the microphone and asked if the company would be showing support for the newest motion-controlled Nintendo console. Sansweet's responded simply by stating the likeness between the Wii controller and a lightsaber, followed by a statement that LucasArts would be supporting every next generation system. No word was given as to what possible titles could be on the way, and there was no further comment on the Wii. Nintendo fans were speculating that the somewhat "bad history" between LucasArts and the Big N could hurt the chances of a Star Wars or Indiana Jones Wii title, so the affirmation of total next gen. support is great news. More as it develops. wii.ign.com/articles/720/720398p1.html
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Post by Matt on Jul 25, 2006 22:46:43 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300] Nintendo Encodes Wii Launch Date?[/glow] It's time to put those cryptology skills you learned from The Da Vinci Code to work.by Daemon Hatfield and Matt Casamassina July 25, 2006 - A mysterious press release from Nintendo today teases that a message detailing the Wii launch date may be hidden within its text. Now, as the release says, it may all be a rouse to get us to read about Nintendo's other games, but we just can't help ourselves. The release reads: "Perhaps the secret to the launch information for Wii is somehow encoded in the text of this news item. You might want to pore over it for a few hours before staying up all night to debate phraseology and comma placement with your friends online." Take a look for yourself and see if you can decode anything from it. What we can tell after a good thirty seconds or so of scrutiny is that a game is releasing every Monday except October 2, November 20, and November 27. Nintendo has hinted that the Wii would launch sooner than later, so that points to... October 2nd? Separate rumors have suggested that Nintendo could be planning to launch Wii directly after the Tokyo Game Show, which takes place in late September. Of course, none of this is confirmed, but that shouldn't stop you from speculating. wii.ign.com/articles/720/720864p1.html
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Post by Matt on Jul 27, 2006 19:00:31 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300] Gearbox Backs Wii[/glow] Maker of the acclaimed Brothers in Arms games pledges support for Nintendo's upcoming console.by Matt Casamassina July 26, 2006 - It looks like you can add another big-name third party developer to Nintendo's growing roster of Wii contributors. Gearbox Software, best known for the critically acclaimed Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 on PlayStation 2 and Xbox (the latter of which scored a 9.3 by IGN.com), revealed to IGN that it is signed up for the Big N's new console. "Gearbox Software is enthusiastically supporting the Wii," said company president Randy Pitchford. The company head had no comment on what Wii projects it could be working on, saying only that, "At this time, we don't have any announcements to make about specific games we may be developing for Wii." Asked what he thought of Nintendo's new console, Pitchford responded: "I think it's great. I'm very much looking forward to playing." According to Pitchford, Wii has immediate strengths and weaknesses. "The strengths of the Nintendo Wii include the price, the unique interface, the sure-bet library of games based on the great Nintendo properties and the promise back catalogue of classic games from Nintendo and others that they have partnered with," he said. "The weaknesses of the system include its lower relative power when compared to other next-gen consoles and the unique interface requiring more dedicated focus specifically for the platform (which makes it more difficult to amortize larger AAA budgets across more customers from multiple platforms)." Gearbox is currently underway with the next installment in the Brothers in Arms series, Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway. The title has been officially announced for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. However, an allegedly leaked Ubisoft release calendar that hit the Web several months ago also listed an unnamed Brothers in Arms title for Nintendo Wii. Ubisoft has from the very beginning supported Nintendo's console with exclusive titles, including the first-person shooter Red Steel and the ground-up platformer Rayman Raving Rabbids, both of which will take advantage of Wii's innovative controller. wii.ign.com/articles/721/721148p1.html
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Post by Matt on Aug 2, 2006 15:08:30 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300] Wii Prove Our Promise[/glow] Nintendo to hold a Wii-centric conference at GC 2006; new games expected.by Matt Casamassina August 2, 2006 - The Games Convention 2006 is gearing up to kick off in Leipzig, Germany, and Nintendo fans will definitely want to tune in for the event, which has over the years proven to be a miniature version of the Electronic Entertainment Expo for the region. The GC 2006's official website reveals that beginning at 10:15 a.m. on August 23, Nintendo will hold a press conference from the exhibition titled: "Wii prove our promise." Few details about the conference itself are known, but the title is very telling. Another, separate event titled "Electronic Arts / Nintendo" is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. the same day. What can Nintendo enthusiasts expect? Well, if unsubstantiated reports out of France are to be believed, Nintendo may unveil as many as five never-before-seen Wii games. IGN is aware of at least one unannounced new project and we're confident gamers will be happy. On top of everything else, some companies are set to show some of their Wii wares, presumably in playable form. Ubisoft has already said that its first-person shooter Red Steel and anticipated quasi-platformer Rayman Raving Rabbids will be on-hand in some capacity. The Games Convention 2006 opens its doors officially from August 24 through August 27. IGN will, of course, be there to dissect every last Wii-related detail. wii.ign.com/articles/722/722861p1.html
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Post by Matt on Aug 2, 2006 17:33:42 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300] EA Reveals Wii Software Pricing?[/glow] Comments from the CFO lead to frantic online flapping.by David Adams August 2, 2006 - Recently a number of web sites have reported that Electronic Arts plans to price its Nintendo Wii titles at or below $49.95 -- likely leaving many to cheer that software for the new console won't carry the heavy price tag of titles for other new systems. Did EA so readily admit its pricing plans, however? When contacted, an EA spokesperson flatly described the report as "false," clarifying that the company has not yet decided on Wii software prices. Where did the rumors come from, then? In an earnings conference call yesterday, Electronic Arts CFO Warren Jensen responded to a question about Wii pricing, referring to comments from Nintendo president Satoru Iwata: "The only thing I heard is the CEO of Nintendo saying he could not imagine any of their titles being sold beyond $49.95." In other words, though EA's pricing plans are still undetermined, $49.95 is hardly an unfamiliar number -- it's a price Nintendo has suggested all along. wii.ign.com/articles/722/722897p1.html
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Post by Matt on Aug 16, 2006 16:36:33 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Nintendo hopes Wii spells wiinner [/glow]Updated 8/15/2006 4:47 AM ET By Kevin P. Casey for USA TODAY Reginald Fils-Aime, 45, Nintendo of America's new president and chief operating officer, says: "Our visuals for Wii will look fantastic, but in the end, prettier pictures will not bring new gamers and casual gamers into this industry." ABOUT THE PRESIDENT Reginald Fils-Aime President and COO, Nintendo of America Career milestones: Joined Nintendo in December 2003. Former head of marketing for the VH1 network. Former U.S. marketing chief for Guinness beverages. Launched Pizza Hut's Bigfoot Pizza campaign. Current challenge: Mount buzz for the Wii. Nintendo's GameCube video game console ranks third behind Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Xbox. The Wii this fall will go head-to-head against the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. CLASH OF THE CONSOLES Nintendo's Wii plans to make up for what it lacks in computing horsepower with an innovative controller requiring much less button-pushing -- and a lower price. Nintendo Wii Processor: 729 MHz IBM Broadway Graphics card: 243 MHz ATI Hollywood RAM: 88 MB Launch date: November 2006 Price: Under $250 Source: USA TODAY research REDMOND, Wash. — Nintendo's soon-to-be-released Wii video game console is getting raves from reviewers and others who have gotten an early peek. The Wii (pronounced wee) sports an innovative controller: To hit a tennis ball, you swing it like a racket; to drive an SUV over treacherous terrain, you twist it like a steering wheel; to shoot a duck, you point it like a pistol. Getting consumers to try it — and jump-start Nintendo's (NTDOY) ambitious plan to trump Microsoft's (MSFT) Xbox 360 and Sony's (SNE) PlayStation 3 — falls to Reginald Fils-Aime, 45, Nintendo of America's new president and chief operating officer. Fils-Aime (pronounced FEES-oe-MEY) knows pop culture. Prior to joining the company in 2003, he worked at Procter & Gamble, Pizza Hut and MTV. He spoke to USA TODAY's Byron Acohido about why he believes Nintendo, the top maker of handheld video game players, can retake top dog status in the billion dollar industry it helped create 20 years ago. Q: What made Nintendo try to do something dramatically different with the Wii? A: Our focus is interactive game play, a whole new way to play, that puts fun back into this business. It allows everybody to pick up and play and isn't focused on the core gamer. Q: The Wii seems to emphasize the controller, not heavy attention on graphics. Is that by design? A: That is exactly by design. Our visuals for Wii will look fantastic, but in the end, prettier pictures will not bring new gamers and casual gamers into this industry. It has to be about the ability to pick up a controller, not be intimidated, and have fun immediately. The trick is being able to do that, not only with the new casual gamer, but do it in a way that the core gamer gets excited as well. Q: Microsoft has made the comment that people can buy an Xbox 360 and Wii for about the same price as a PlayStation 3. Would you mind terribly if that happened? A: I'd much rather have the consumer buy a Wii, some accessories, and a ton of games, vs. buying any of my competitor's products. Q: A few years ago, Nintendo made a conscious decision to lie low when Microsoft introduced Xbox Live and began promoting its subscription online gaming service. In retrospect, does that look like a good decision? A: I wasn't here. What I can tell you is the way we've approached online play now is really with a view to the masses. With Nintendo DS (a dual-screen handheld player), for example, we offer free Internet play in a wide-ranging series of games. Our focus is getting as many consumers to enjoy that online experience as possible. And we've done that. Q: You're not pursuing a subscription model? A: We view online gaming as essentially an enhanced way to enjoy the gaming experience and drive more sales of hardware and software. Q: How do you extend your online strategy to Wii? A: It's the same premise. We will offer online-enabled games that the consumers will not have to pay a subscription fee for. They'll be able to enjoy that right out of the box. The Wii console is going to be Wi-Fi enabled, so essentially, you'll be able to plug it in and go. It won't have hidden fees or costs.Q: What is your plan for getting folks who aren't normally interested in video games to try the Wii? A: We need to get the consumer to admire what we've done. We need them to say to themselves, "Wow, this new Wii console by Nintendo is really interesting!" And they need to try it. They need to get bought into the proposition. Q: Your background is in marketing. Without divulging competitive secrets, can you characterize your marketing plan? A: It's going to be massive amounts of hands-on activity, as well as showcasing exactly how Wii games are different. We're going to create advocacy. We're going to make it so that everyone who tries the Wii experience talks to their friends and neighbors. It's going to be a really provocative sight to be seeing teens and 20-year-olds and 40-year-olds and 50-year-olds talking about how different this experience is. Q: What can you tell us about timing and price? A: We're well on our way to sharing all of that information with our retailers and our licensees. We'll be sharing that information publicly later on. Q: Can the Wii take Nintendo back to the top of the mountain? A: Our goal is to have as many teens and young adults as we have 40-plus-year-olds excited about the platform. We're trying to expand this business here in the U.S in a way that it really hasn't been expanded ... for the health of this industry. Q: Sounds like you're more focused on new customers and not necessarily taking share from the other guys. A: The interesting thing is if you do expand the market, you do both. You grow the category, but you'll also dramatically increase your market share. As an example, Nintendo DS in Japan outsells all of our competitors by a factor of five to one. We are so far in advance of our handheld competitors that they're not even on the map. That's all based on a market expansion strategy. And that's what we're looking to do with home consoles. Q: How do you handicap your competitors; what worries you most about them? A: Our competitors are both going down the same path. Both believe that more and more performance with a higher and higher price tag are their keys to success. So what do I see? I think our two competitors will trade share between them, while we go off and grab share in a completely different way. Posted 8/14/2006 9:30 PM ET www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2006-08-14-nintendo-qa_x.htm
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Post by Matt on Aug 30, 2006 17:23:36 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300] Tecmo Plans Wii Downloads[/glow] Dead or Alive to support Virtual Console "aggressively."by Anoop Gantayat August 29, 2006 - It seems like everyone's signing up to bring their gaming backlog to the Wii Virtual Console. The latest to jump on the retro bandwagon is Tecmo, the maker of Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden. As part of a financial report issued on the 28th, the company promised to support the Virtual Console "aggressively." Specifics were not revealed. Other areas mentioned in the financial report, which covers the upcoming business term, are a worldwide simultaneous launch for Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 and a promise to tackle new titles, with Wii's Super Swing Golf Pangya given as an example. The company didn't make mention of Xbox Live Arcade or Sony's PS3 download service. Tecmo was a big name at the time of the NES, with classics like Tecmo Bowl and the original Ninja Gaiden series. The latest 3D Ninja Gaiden will likely end up on the Xbox 360, but fans of the original series can probably look forward to a revisit on the Wii. wii.ign.com/articles/729/729152p1.html
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Post by Matt on Sept 8, 2006 7:17:26 GMT -5
Broadway Chip Finished, ShippedIBM and Nintendo confirm the CPU is done and ready to power Wii.by Matt Casamassina September 8, 2006 - Hot on the heels of Sony's confirmation this week that PlayStation 3 will not ship in Europe until 2007, and that only 400,000 units will be available for launch in North America, IBM and Nintendo revealed Friday morning that the Wii CPU, codenamed Broadway, is all wrapped up and ready to go. In fact, an IBM rep announced that the Broadway chip has been available to Nintendo for three weeks. "The first chips are in our possession," said Genyo Takeda, Nintendo's senior managing director and general manager of its integrated research and development division, in a statement. "Today's milestone marks the final stage of our drive to reach both core and nontraditional gamers with an inviting, inclusive and remarkable gaming experience." The Broadway CPU is a 90-nanometer PowerPC-based chip that includes silicon-on-insulator technology. The chip is approximately 20 percent more efficient than its GameCube predecessor, codenamed Gekko. "When millions of gamers take the controls of Wii this holiday season, the IBM logo will once again be front and center on this innovative new product," said Ron Martino IBM's director of technology collaboration solutions. Nintendo said that it plans to ship six million Wii units around the world through the end of March of next year. [glow=red,2,300] Details regarding the console's price and release date are expecting next week. [/glow] wii.ign.com/articles/731/731713p1.html
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