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Nintendo Businesses Wii

Nintendo's Iwata Confirms Big Games This Year 120

Posted by Zonk from the letsa-go dept.
1up has comments from Nintendo's President Satoru Iwata, as he spoke to investors earlier this week. When asked about the possibility of hardcore games coming to the Wii before the end of 2007, Nintendo's president assured gamers and moneymen that Mario and Metroid are coming this year. "It will be from around the end of this summer to the end of this year. We will then launch a new title of Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption although the last one is primarily for the [American and European] markets. These will be the key titles for the period ranging from the summer until the holiday sales season of this year, and I think we will be able to cater to the specific needs you mentioned."
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Nintendo's Iwata Confirms Big Games This Year More

Nintendo's Iwata Confirms Big Games This Year

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  • I know me and all my friends are going to have many all nighters when Brawl comes out!
  • Sounds like they wont be out till christmas.

    • Given how hard the Wii is to find in stores (at least where I live), it may take that long for me to get one.

  • Wiiiiiii! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by MBCook ( 132727 ) <foobarsoft@foobarsoft.com> on Saturday May 05, 2007 @06:59PM (#19005731) Homepage

    Let's see... Mario Sunshine, Mario Strikers: Charged (w/online play), Metroid 3, Super Smash Brothers: Brawl, and Super Paper Mario is already out (I'm almost finished, great game). The Wii is looking better and better. Combine that with as the Wii ages 3rd parties will get better and better at utilizing the controls (for something other than a mini-game fest). I can't wait until we start getting good sports games with Wii controls (like Wii play but fleshed out controls and game play). Tennis especially. If they can get reading the racket right it should be great. How will they handle the next Madden? The last one got good reviews, now that they have a game or two under their belt let's see what it's like!

    Meanwhile, the 360 and PS3 have games here and there that look interesting, but neither seems to have nearly as many games that I'm looking forward to. And most of those (God of War III, Bioshock, etc) are not exactly breaking new ground in controls, they are just refinement of some of the games we have had for a long time (beat-'em ups, FPSes).

    The DS also produced some really quirky and fun games (like Yoshi's Touch and Go, for example). I can't wait to see more of that kind of stuff on the Wii. How about porting the new Sam & Max games or other adventure games? How about a Phoenix Wright title?

    The Wii continues to be a very interesting system, and as it hits its stride better (remember the first year or two of the PS2?) things will only get better.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by ClassMyAss ( 976281 )
      One problem with tweaking the controls for stuff like tennis is that the Wiimote is unable to get at the rotational degree of freedom around the vertical axis unless the sensor bar is within viewing range (and even if the bar is within range, we're talking hack city) - for tennis, this will not be the case, as during a swing the front of the remote would be pointed away from the TV. Similarly, sword-fighting is never going to be quite possible with the remote as it is.

      It's too bad they didn't add somethin
      • Um, the wiimote does have gyro's in it. The sensor bar is only used when you need to point at something on screen. Sword fighting games will work very well with the wiimote.

        • Re:Wiiiiiii! (Score:4, Informative)

          by ClassMyAss ( 976281 ) on Sunday May 06, 2007 @12:29PM (#19010997) Homepage

          Um, the wiimote does have gyro's in it. The sensor bar is only used when you need to point at something on screen. Sword fighting games will work very well with the wiimote.
          Nope, no gyros, unless they are hidden deep inside and haven't been used in anything yet. I've spent a lot of time playing with this thing (do a Google search for DarwiinRemote - might be Mac only? - you can read the Wiimote output through a Bluetooth connection). What it has is merely some force sensors that detect x, y, and z acceleration. If the Wiimote is not actually being accelerated, then you can use this to locate the gravity vector in remote space; if it is being accelerated, then you need to be a little more clever to figure out what's going on (and there are some ambiguities - basically you have to determine what direction gravity is in so you can separate the gravity component from the acceleration, and this requires some educated guessing as it's a mathematically underspecified problem). But in essence, the accelerometers are little more than weights on linear springs - each one reads acceleration in a single direction. This is why rotation about the direction of gravity is not detectable, there is just no difference in the accelerometer readings all around that axis.

          By the way, it IS true that the accelerometers provide three degrees of freedom, exactly the number you need for full rotational specification; unfortunately only two of them are actually rotational, the third is actually a translational DOF (more or less). And you can't even really use the spatial location very well because the accelerometers only provide 8-bit acceleration data, so it's hard to use this to integrate up from acceleration to position data. All of this explains why a lot of the stuff people had expected to see so soon are still not happening - the thing doesn't quite give you true locatability, it stabs at it and leaves it up to the game developers to figure out ways around the limitations. You might be right that they will eventually figure out some way to make swordfighting games, but the point is, they won't give you quite the amount of control that you have with a real sword.

          Don't get me wrong, it's a very interesting controller nonetheless, I'm just sour because I had hoped for a perfect one with true 6 DOF locatability; I guess I'll have to wait for the next generation for that one...

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by grumbel ( 592662 )
      Mario Sunshine, Mario Strikers, Metroid Prime, Super Smash Brothers Melee and Paper Mario 2. The Gamecube is looking better and better...

      Whenever I look at the Wii I kind of get a déjà vu, I already played all those games or their prequels on the Cube, adding a bit motion control here and there is all nice and good, but where are the new games? I mean the completly new ones, not the franchise recycling that is going on here. So far I see only Disaster Day of Crisis and Project HAMMER, but they lo

  • Makes sense... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by earthbound kid ( 859282 ) on Saturday May 05, 2007 @07:04PM (#19005777) Homepage
    Nintendo's usual strategy is to dribble out games slooooowly, so that there are never too many hits in the marketplace at one time consuming each other's oxygen. That makes sense--usually. But right now is a completely different case. Nintendo needs to maintain its sales rate advantage if it's going to overtake the 360 in the US and maintain its lead over the PS3 in Japan. A slow second half of 2007 could cause the Wii to lose momentum and fall at a time when it's crucial to reach escape velocity. If by December 2007 the Wii is still in the lead, developers are going to start moving all their new projects to the Wii. Once that happens, if you want the game you need the system, and Nintendo has it made. If the Wii juggernaut slows in the second half of 2007, then the developers will split. US devs will follow the 360, and Japanese devs will follow the PS3. If that happens, Wii is going to be stuck in the middle and (while doing quite well) won't dominate. Thus, the pressure is on for Nintendo to churn out as much as possible as soon as possible. We'll see how that works out for them...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by 26199 ( 577806 ) *

      Here's hoping. I would love to see the initial genius behind the Wii followed up by some solid long-term investment.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by GregPK ( 991973 )
      I agree with your thinking. However, the wii has been and will continue to pretty much dominate group situations. That is until xbox and playstation get thier act together and make something similar. Though I totally see Sony fixing up the playstation by late 2008 to sell well and make money. In fact its benefitial for them to sell less now. Sure they won't get the developers right away. Mostly people will continue buying the hotly sold ps2 and games for that. Then slowly as the ps3 gains traction

      • Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)

        by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Saturday May 05, 2007 @09:24PM (#19006763)
        Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by GregPK ( 991973 )
          I was thinking along the lines of a second Generation PS3; A Bigger hard drive, more connections, more accessories, more games, and fully refined and developed technology to take advantage of what is incorporated into the system. Not to mention manufacturing of scale to bring down the total costs of the ps3. Keeping the old cash cow profitable ps2 around was genius of them. Something that can't be said for xbox v1 which had costs that didn't come down due to the fact that nvidia and intel didn't want to

      • Then slowly as the ps3 gains traction along with cost reductions in manufacturing and increasing tech availible for the ps3 you'll see the ps3 come back in 2008 as a dominating system.

        A failing console making a comeback after being almost two years on the market is something that - as far as I can remember - has never happened in this business, and I don't think it will ever happen. The reason is simple:

        If a console starts to lose ground, developers start to abandon it. The console will see less exclusives, and the cross-platform games will be shoddier on that console. Hence, its appeal to consumers will decrease, which will make it fail even quicker, decreasing the chance of a comeba

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by grumbel ( 592662 )
          ### While more and more exclusive 3rd-party games are announced for the Wii, PS3 exclusives are going multi-platform one by one.

          Multi-platform here means Xbox360, PS3 and sometimes PC, but not Wii. What the Wii gets aren't the big titles, but the spin-offs and gaidens, the FF:Crystal Chronicals, the RE:UC rail shooter and stuff like that. Those titles aren't exclusive because the Wii is dominating, but simply because nobody would care for them on the other platforms. So far I couldn't name a single potentia

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by LWATCDR ( 28044 )
            Unless Microsoft manages to get more Japanese Game Studios on board which is very possible. Yes the PS3 is doing better in Japan than the 360 but only in Japan. Compare the Japanese market with the North American Market and the European market. As the 360 and the Wii gain more market share the than Japanese studios will consider writing for the 360. As to what happens in 2 years? Well With Nintendo flush with cash from Wii and Wii games sales I would bet that they are already working on the next Wii. I

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by grumbel ( 592662 )
              ### Nintendo could then role out an HD Wii

              They sure could, but who would buy that thing? The current hype is focused mostly around Wii Sports and the controller, in two years it will be old stuff by then and I doubt that the same crowed that bought into the current hype will go to buy a Wii HD, since the normal Wii already does everything they expect from a game console. To keep up with the XBox360/PS3 the Wii HD would need to have substantial more power then just a Wii with HD capabilities added on, it wou

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by LKM ( 227954 )
                Let me guess, you bought a PS3 thinking it would be a success, and now you're trying to cope with your cognitive dissonance.

                • Re: (Score:2)

                  by grumbel ( 592662 )
                  I don't own any of the next-gen consoles. Given however that the Wii doesn't offer anything I would be interested in and that the XBox360 has the most buggy hardware in console history as well as expensive online play, the PS3 sounds like a solid offering, not one that I would buy now, but a year or two down the road when the price is down and some more games are out, why not?

                  If the Xbox360 wouldn't be so damn buggy I would have already bought one, but with news about disk scratching and red rings of death

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by LWATCDR ( 28044 )
                First as to who would buy such a thing. Simple Answer DS Lite?
                Nintendo is still selling GBAs as well as DSs. GBAs are great for kids.

                "Wii HD would need to have substantial more power then just a Wii with HD capabilities added on, it would need to be a completely new machine build from scratch, which in turn would mean that WiiHD games wouldn't run on a Wii, which in turn would mean that the Wii won't ever get a decent amount of good games since it was to short lived."
                Why? The Wii uses a member of the PPC fa

                • Re: (Score:2)

                  by 7Prime ( 871679 )
                  This idea that the Wii is limited to only "simplistic games" or "low-end games" is just idiotic. At this point in time, that's definitely how it looks, but there is no reason to expect that it will stay that way. Game developers will go to whatever system will move the most amount of units of their products. All three consoles have the ability to do the same style of game. So if you're a developer, setting out to do a substantial product in any genre, unless you really NEED that high escellon of graphical p

                  • Re: (Score:2)

                    by grumbel ( 592662 )
                    ### All three consoles have the ability to do the same style of game.

                    Wrong, the Wii is not in the same league as PS3 and XBox360, it will not be able to do a things that use huge crowds like AssassinsCreed or DeadRising, things that make use of physics engine will be impossible as well. Sure, sometimes you might be able to scale stuff down, but often times you simply won't be able to do that. Processing power can be very relevant to gameplay and the Wii just hasn't enough to keep up.

                    ### There is no underlyi

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by LWATCDR ( 28044 )
                      Okay I guess you confuse magic with reality. Development "follows the money". The money comes from the number of consoles on the market. The Wii is selling like hot cakes and the PS3 isnt't.
                      Now for the ugly truth about the PS3. It never was meant to maximize profits for the game publishers. The PS3 is a way to get Blue-ray into peoples homes. It is also a way for Sony to get into the online media business. Playing games is just a cover for Sony Entertainment's agenda.

                      The Wii is cheaper to develop for than t

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by 7Prime ( 871679 )
                      Hey, Twilight Princess was the best selling (and best recieved) launch title, Metroid Prime 3 is one of the most anticipated games... those strike me as exactly the kind of games we're talking about. I fail to see how your comment that "there is no market", holds any water.

                      The Wii isn't for casual gamers, it's for everyone, many different demgraphics and psychographics. Nintendo has been saying this over and over again, but quite a few hardcore gamers, like yourself, think that every time the word "everyone

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by grumbel ( 592662 )
                      ### The money comes from the number of consoles on the market.

                      The money comes from players interested in buying your games, not from the consoles sold. You have to keep in mind that the Wii isn't up to the XBox360 or the PS3, but against the XBox360 *and* the PS3. Many of the next-gen games are for XBox360 and the PS3, but not for the Wii, since it just is to slow to run them, which means that you have 6mio Wii customers vs 13mio PS3/XBox360 customers. Now guess where the money flows. The Wii might continue

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by LWATCDR ( 28044 )
                      PS3 sales are pretty slow and they will slow to a trickle if there are no PS3 exclusives.
                      I don't know if the Wii will over take the 360 but at the current rate of sales it might. The Wii doesn't have to beat the PS3 and the 360. It just has to make Nintendo a lot of money. And it is. I just don't see sales of the Wii going down or the sales of the PS3 going up. Take a look here http://nexgenwars.com/ [nexgenwars.com] the Wii is lagging the 360 by that much. If Wii sales keep up at this rate it will equal or surpass 360 by n

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by grumbel ( 592662 )
                      ### It just has to make Nintendo a lot of money.

                      Well, as a gamer I care if a console will get good games and little else. When it makes money for Nintendo, fine for them, but that won't guarantee me good games. As said, for a third party developer it is important where the potential customers are and so far you have 13mil on the XBox360/PS3 side, since porting between those two consoles is relatively easy, and 6mil on the Wii side, since porting between XBox360/PS3 is never going to lead to satisfying resul

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by LWATCDR ( 28044 )
                      If the PS3 only gets 360 ports it is dead. Why pay for PS3 when you can buy a 360 to play the same games plus have the exclusives of the 360. Third party support of the Wii is building very quickly and frankly from what I have seen the Wii has more high rated games than the PS3 currently has.
                      You must be a real Sony fan or a real Nintendo hater. I was a big fan of the PS3 before it shipped. I wanted a Cell to program so bad I could taste it. I actually thought that idea of Apple going for Intel was stupid

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by 7Prime ( 871679 )
                      Thank you. Some people think that just because the PS3 and 360 support the same resolution, and could be considered comparable in horsepower, that they are somehow easy, or even "easier" to port between. This couldn't be farther from the truth. The PS3 and 360 are totally different animals, and what's more is only their tallied horsepower stats are comparible, but in individual areas, their graphical handling is completely different. One might be vastly superior in lighting effects, while the other's textur

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by LWATCDR ( 28044 )
                      BTW the answer to your friends question, "why would someone develop for the Wii" is simple, a paycheck.

                      Actually I would love to develop for the Wii. The controller opens up new possibilities for games while the 360 and the PS3 are more about eye candy.

                      Yes the 360 and PS3 are very different critters. Most of the people that post with such authority on how easy it is to port software and or deliver bug free software have never written a line of code or used any system but and X86 or maybe a PPC.

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by grumbel ( 592662 )
                      ### The PS3 and 360 are totally different animals, and what's more is only their tallied horsepower stats are comparible, but in individual areas, their graphical handling is completely different.

                      Even with all their differences they are still a lot more similar to each other then compared to the Wii. A PS3 simply can do XBox360 style graphics and a XBox360 can do PS3 style graphics, a Wii can't do either of that. Sure the engine programmers will have quite a bit of work to do to get the different architectu

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by grumbel ( 592662 )
                      ### Nintendo has been saying this over and over again,

                      They can say it as long as they want, that doesn't make it any more true. Just look at the lack of online offering and serious lack of third party support (Assassins Creed, Bioshock, AlanWake, etc.). I have been a loyal Nintendo customer for 15+ years, the Wii has right now however nothing in terms of games that I would be interested in. Why that? Because I have played all its games last year when they where available on other Nintendo platforms. A game

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by 7Prime ( 871679 )
                      Are we talking about style or quality? Because I can't think of any "style" of graphics that the PS3 can do that the Wii can't, but just at lower resolutions with simpler lighting/shading effects and less polygons.

                      Note, I've never been suggesting that the Wii could ever come close to looking as good as the PS3, but games made for the PS3 could be ported just fine... they'd only have "Wii level graphics", which for the person who bought the Wii, is obviously JUST FINE. I can't think of any reasonable situati

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by grumbel ( 592662 )
                      ### Because I can't think of any "style" of graphics that the PS3 can do that the Wii can't

                      Anything that involves shaders is impossible on the Wii, it simply lacks the hardware support for that. Sometimes you might be able to get similar effects done, but when you have build a whole engine around certain assumption of what a GPU can do you can't just port it to a hardware that doesn't have those features. Its not just a matter of more pretty or less pretty, but a different way of doing the engine, doing the

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by 7Prime ( 871679 )
                      You have some real points. I don't think the "year or two" arguement is all that important, though, since I think the Wii is probably going to be replaced somewhere around 2010 (it's obviously a short lifecycle console). Still, I don't think that game design, even last generation, took advantage of all the horsepower available. My thoughts is basically that the technology is moving faster than the concepts that are being developed that require that technology. Instead of game designers calling for newer, mo

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by 7Prime ( 871679 )

                      Well, as a gamer I care if a console will get good games and little else.


                      It's Nintendo, I think that's the least of our concerns. Unless you don't like Nintendo's offerings, in which, well... we're just gonna dissagree in terms of game style.

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by 7Prime ( 871679 )
                      Firstly... have you played Super Paper Mario? It's nothing like any of the other games. As far as I'm concerned, it's probably the most innovative game I've seen in a long while, regardless of its connection to a previous franchise. Is it a perfect game? No way, but it's still very good and I wouldn't deduct ANY points for it being not innovative. If anything, it's too innovative, and a little unpolished, sorta like the original Super Mario Bros when compared to Mario 3.

                      It's sorta like saying Curby's Canvas

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by grumbel ( 592662 )

                      Still, I don't think that game design, even last generation, took advantage of all the horsepower available.

                      Neither do I, the problem however is that hardware is still what is driving this industry. After 3D graphics came around, 2D was dead, almost instantly, not because it was bad, but just because it no longer was the trendy thing to do. Today you have the physics engines, crowed AI, HDR lighting, shader and all that stuff, they are less of a change then 2D -> 3D, but they are still new things to ex

                  • Re: (Score:2)

                    by LWATCDR ( 28044 )
                    I don't think the Wii is very limited at all. It has more power than the Xbox and the PS2 both of which had some pretty complex games on them. I don't think that the Wii has the power to do a 1080p game. Frankly it doesn't seem to need it yet. I think you are correct but at the same time Nintendo is in a great position for the future. I am betting that Nintendo is already working on their next console.

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by 7Prime ( 871679 )
                      No doubt. I think we can view the Wii as an experimental, "interim" system. It's cheap to manufacturer, low-power, and a good way of getting a new technology off the ground. In 2 years, it's lifecycle will be over, and Nintendo will be able to launch a system far more powerfull than the 360/PS3, at half the price, and will be, then, half a generation ahead in terms of graphical power.

                      Sony and Microsoft are in bad possitions, right now. They've invested in systems that have no less than a 7 year lifecycle (o

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by LKM ( 227954 )

            Multi-platform here means Xbox360, PS3 and sometimes PC, but not Wii.

            I don't see how that relates to the point I was making, namely, that a console usually can't make a comeback after failing for a year.

            What the Wii gets aren't the big titles, but the spin-offs and gaidens, the FF:Crystal Chronicals, the RE:UC rail shooter and stuff like that. Those titles aren't exclusive because the Wii is dominating, but simply because nobody would care for them on the other platforms

            Wow, did your cat piss in your

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by grumbel ( 592662 )
              ### I don't see how that relates to the point I was making, namely, that a console usually can't make a comeback after failing for a year.

              It means that the PS3 is losing against the XBox360, not against the Wii. Which in turns means that Xbox360 lack of support in Japan is a huge issue. As you said, you can't win without Japan and the XBox360 is as far away as being a success in Japan as always, which means the PS3 is alone in its market segment there. This of course doesn't make the PS3 a winner, but you c

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by LKM ( 227954 )
                I actually agree with your prediction with regards to the PS3 and the 360. I too think it will play out somewhere between 50-50 and 60-40 with the PS3 getting the upper hand in the end. However, I doubt the two consoles will - together - sell more than 60-80 millions during the next 6 years. I would bet on ~30 millions for the 360 and 40 millions for the PS3. Thus, I predict both consoles to be failures compared to what they set out to achieve.

                I would also bet that the Wii will sell around 70-90 millions du

                • Re: (Score:2)

                  by grumbel ( 592662 )
                  ### However, the thing I was actually taking exception with in your statement was that you claimed that "the titles aren't exclusive because the Wii is dominating, but simply because nobody would care for them on the other platforms." That is a really weird statement.

                  If the Wii would be dominating Ubisoft would move AssassinCreed over to the Wii, Rockstar would port their GTA and Konami would bring you MetalGear4, while Square gives you FF:XIII and Capcom RE5. Fact however is: They don't, not a single of th

                  • Re: (Score:2)

                    by LKM ( 227954 )
                    The whole point of Assassin's creed is that you have many intelligent NPCs. That game won't work on the Wii. As for GTA, MGS, RE-X and the Square franchises: Wait and see. These games take a long time to develop and can't move to a slower platform so far into development. But many of these games will eventually end up on the Wii, no question about it.

                    Uhm, yeah, so far very little third-party games have had large dev teams. That's because devs have only started to move teams to the Wii during the last month

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by grumbel ( 592662 )
                      ### But many of these games will eventually end up on the Wii, no question about it.

                      As crappy ports maybe. As develop-from-scratch from the Wii, I don't think so, there is currently no indication for that and I doubt that there is even a large enough market on the Wii. Just because a bunch of casual gamers buy the Wii, doesn't mean that they want to play Assassins Creed.

                      ### Finally, I think you don't quite understand how friend codes work.

                      I understand very well how they work. The sole reason they where inve

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by LKM ( 227954 )
                      The discussion is becoming somewhat repetitive. I think we both understand each other's arguments, and we both disagree with them.

                      My opinion: The Wii will be this generation's most successfull console, by far, selling at least as much as the other two consoles combined, and it will get all the good titles. Many A-List franchises will move to the Wii, just like Dragon Quest moved to the DS. The fact that, as of now, most big titles are scheduled to be on the 360 and the PS3 is an artefact of the last generat

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by grumbel ( 592662 )
                      Yep, in the end only time will tell, however I just doubt that the Wii will be interesting enough to those people that want Halo, GTA and Co. when those games are not going for the Wii for a long long time, if ever. The Wii simply seems to cater to a different audience and this Miyamato interview [ew.com] seems to confirm that:

                      Why do you think Zelda isn't doing well in Japan?

                      Well, I think a lot of people who bought the Wii are not necessarily the types of people who are interested in playing that kind of game.

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by LKM ( 227954 )
                      It should be noted that Miyamoto also says that "a lot of the people who would want to play it [due to chronic shortages of the console] can't find a Wii."

                      Furthermore, Zelda isn't actually doing badly in Japan (or anywhere else, for that matter). Zelda sold more in Japan than any 360 or PS3 game. I think that as of now, it sold 500'000 copies in Japan - which is quite a lot, considering that there are (I think) less than 2 million Wiis sold in Japan (not entirely sure on those numbers, though).

                      In the US, Ze

    • Re:Makes sense... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Jasin Natael ( 14968 ) on Saturday May 05, 2007 @07:47PM (#19006129)

      Nintendo's usual strategy is to dribble out games slooooowly, so that there are never too many hits in the marketplace at one time...

      I haven't seen a Wii on the shelf yet, so I'm just hoping that I can casually purchase one by the time these games come out. It may have nothing to do with titles competing with each other, but more to do with waiting until they've sold their current round of hardware and aren't engendering ill will by being unable to provide consoles. If I were the big N (aka, making a profit on console hardware), I'd want at least a million Wii's sitting on shelves and warehouse palletes before launching my sure-fire hits.

      Basically, demand for consoles (in the absence of the hit games) should be satisified before the game increases console demand. Anything else would be lost sales. Claiming that the extra time is being used for debugging and quality assurance might just be PR smoke and mirrors.

      • Basically, demand for consoles (in the absence of the hit games) should be satisified before the game increases console demand. Anything else would be lost sales.

        Not necessarily. I actually know someone who got bored of their Wii and sold it already. Shortages or not, it's better if current owners don't treat the Wii like Tickle-me-Elmo and throw the thing into a closet after a couple months. Or put another way: supposing the Wii remained sold out through 2007, I don't think it would be a good idea for

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Kris_J ( 10111 ) *
      Well, they certainly need to so something. I bought a Wii for to social side of it, but the games have all focussed on the cure controller, rather than the networking. I barely turned it on for a couple of months. I've only powered it up recently to watch YouTubed episodes of Teen Titans on my TV. Frankly, if there was anyone in my extended social network that really wanted it, I'd sell it to them.

  • Spider-Man 3 (Score:4, Interesting)

    by E-Sabbath ( 42104 ) on Saturday May 05, 2007 @08:10PM (#19006309)
    I'm enjoying the heck out of Spidey 3 for the Wii. It's a little sloppy, but I think that's me as much as the controls. The camera controls are already better than any other game I played on the PS2, and web swinging using each hand (Nunchuck for left, Wiimote for right) is a hoot. Spent two hours just swinging around Manhattan last night. Streets still aren't quite right, though. Jim Hanley's Universe is still nonexistant, the street where it should be, just south of the Empire State Building is not there. On the other hand, I think I found 666 5th Avenue _and_ where Coyote Ugly should be.

    Yes, I try to find random RL landmarks in the Spidey games. It's one of those little mini-games you do for no reason, like stepping on only white tiles.

    Fighting has been pretty fun. Shake the remote, shake, push button, dodge... I'm pulling up six to eight hit combos.

  • They don't like Metroid Prime in Japan? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by enharmonix ( 988983 ) <enharmonix+slashdot@gmail.com> on Saturday May 05, 2007 @11:05PM (#19007291)
    FTA:

    Metroid Prime 3: Corruption ... is primarily for the overseas markets.
    I'm a little confused. Am I to understand Metroid is not popular in Japan? I'm afraid I really don't understand what he meant by that... Did Metroid Prime flop in Japan? Do the Japanese not like FPS games or something? Or is their society that misogynist that a butt-kicking cyborg woman is taboo? Now that I think about it, though, most FPS games' credits are full of Americans... Is this sorta like how we never see Japanese dating sims over here, 'cause it's just, well, not something Americans want to play? I dunno. Kinda silly to ask, I guess, but all I know about Japan, I learned from Akira Kurosowa [wikipedia.org] and Fred Gallagher (aka piro) [megatokyo.com]. Sorry, but it just boggles my mind that a game as good as Metroid Prime just wouldn't fly in Japan...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by edwdig ( 47888 )
      Metroid has always sold much better in the US and Europe than in Japan. FPS games aren't very popular in Japan. Hence, Metroid Prime isn't a big sell in Japan. I believe the first actually did decently there, at least relative to expectations.

    • Metroid Prime is an FPS series... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by solios ( 53048 ) on Sunday May 06, 2007 @02:37AM (#19008283) Homepage
      ... and America is the Land Of FPS. Quake, Unreal, etceteras - I played through Metroid Prime : Hunters on my DS and it felt like a mix of Quake 4 and Quake 3 gameplay elements. Metroid Prime is really more of a Nintendo Quake than anything else - you could swap out the sprites and models and change the name of the game and I doubt anyone would notice.

      From what I've seen, the Japanese market is all about the platformers (such as the real Metroid games, and Castlevania) and RPGS - and the Metroid Prime series is neither. I don't have any figures, but if the Japanese had as big a hardon for FPS as they did for RPGs, the X-Box would be doing gangbusters over there.

      And if you're getting your Japanese culture from Megatokyo, you're getting an unbelievably skewed perspective.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Guppy06 ( 410832 )
      "Am I to understand Metroid is not popular in Japan?"

      Japan's reaction to Metroid has always been "meh," ever since the first game came out for the Famicom Disk System. It sells well, makes some reasonable lucre, but Japanese Nintendo fanbois tend not to mention "Metroid" in the same breath as "Mario" or "Zelda" as their North American and European counterparts do.

      The Metroid Prime games are made by a studio based in Texas, so it's reasonable for these games to be released in North America first, but even M
  • Surely it's simply 'Nintendo to continue known franchises on Wii this year'?

    I'm not arguing its not newsworthy, it's great new for Wii players everywhere (unfortunatly I am not one at the moment), but its a little like saying 'Microsoft Announce Halo 3 for Xbox 360 this year'. I'm as excited as anyone to see where Nintendo are taking their innovation, but I fear people are getting a little over-zealous in their attitudes; lest we forget the real (and non-established) areas of gaming the Wii could take us i

  • Nintendo did an excellent job marketing the Wii. That being said those I work with bought the Wii as their first Nintendo console since well the first NES in some cases. Since I'm a fanboy it is easy for me to be happy with the system and games. My co-workers however are finding that they aren't sure what games to pick up and are starting to look at the 360 with a lot more intrest. Nintendo has created a market. Their sales of systems will continue for a while yet. If they truely want to dominate howe

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