Gamernode: Latest Wii News

January 28th Virtual Console release

Another Monday, another Wii Virtual Console update. This time, though, there's only one game being added to Nintendo's channel. On the bright side, it's actually a good one! (And strangely fitting, given the fact that it snowed here overnight...)

No, I'm not talking about Ski Free--I'm talking about 1080 Snowboarding. The ol' N64 snowboardin' hit makes its way to the VC after years of being completely forgotten as one of the funnest and most rented N64 titles. The full release details are below.

1080° SNOWBOARDING (N64, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii points): Hit the slopes for some serious shredding in one of the first truly realistic snowboarding games ever created! Start in the lodge and select from five characters, each with his/her own particular attributes and special tr...

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Check out a ton of SSBB Japanese demo videos

Did you like Cloverfield? Looking forward to Smash Bros. Brawl? If you answered yes to both, you're going to love queensaki's videos of the Japanese demo version of Brawl! Filmed with a shaky handcam that would make Hud proud, the videos show some fights, and other stuff! queensaki's been adding videos for Brawl for a few weeks, but judging by the names, TV and picture quality, the batch added yesterday seem to be the first actually filmed by queensaki. Either that, or the videographer at Nintendo is really, really wasted while at work.

You've got Kirby vs Ike, Bowser vs Dedede, Pokemon Trainer vs Link, Ike vs Dedede, and even some hot Kirby on Kirby action.

If you want to check them out and don't get motion sick easily, you can find them all on queensaki's Youtube profile page.

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Brawl's story mode penned by the guy behind FFVII

In the latest installment of Iwata Asks with SSBB lead Masahiro Sakurai, Sakurai and the Nintendo president talk about Brawl's single story mode, The Space Emissary; more specifically, the storyline included in it.

Sakurai mentions the difficulties he first faced with the idea (there are a bunch of varying characters in the game, after all) as well as his own initial aversion to the idea of a singleplayer story mode. After realizing he wanted to use the side-scrolling aspect from the previous Smash Bros. game as a start-off point, Sakurai once again faced the challenge of figuring out a way to make the characters coexist, and to make a story make sense. Enter Kazushige Nojima, the man behind the story in games such as Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts.

"At that point, I decided to ask Kaz...

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Nintendo doesn't want gamers to be bored

In what is sure to shock Nintendo haters worldwide, Nintendo president and CEO Satoru Iwata said, in a recent interview over at wii.com, that "If all our games mirror games like Wii Sports or Wii Fit, our gamers would soon grow bored."

We here at Gamernode apologize for not being on the scene at the time to make sure he didn't have his fingers crossed, wasn't being tied down by Nintendo fanboys demanding less shovelware and more first-party content or wasn't some robotic monstrosity created with the sole purpose of spinning a web of lies to the oh-so-gullible gaming public.

Iwata must be the Nintendo representative to a new 12 step program. "It started simple. One game packed-in with the system *snicker,* well, we charged extra for it and no one really noticed. People loved the minigame...

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VC demo games to be included in SSBB

It seems that almost everyone is waiting for the arrival of Super Smash Bros. Brawl.But according to the official website for SSBB, gamers will be in for a nice treat because the game will also include virtual console demos of games that will spotlight the various characters that will be in SSBB.

This will certainly be a nice little bonus for those who may have not had a chance to play these old-old school games. And for those who have, it'll be a nice walk down memory lane.

So far the titles for the VC list are:-Ice Climber-Super Mario Bros.-The Legend of Zelda-Kid Icarus-Kirby's Adventure-Super Metroid-StarFox 64It's possible that there will be more games added but no word from Nintendo concering this yet.

[via VCreviews]

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Wii game sales dominate but not as much in Japan

The Nintendo Wii is dominant. How dominant you ask? According to Nintendo's figures, worldwide sales of the Wii as of December 31, 2007 reached 20.13 million units. In terms of software, sales reached 113 million units showing an attach rate of 5.6. That is a pretty strong attachment rate, but remember that is only the average.

In America the attach rate is higher with 6.9, and in Europe closer to 5.6. Where Wii software sales seem to be at a lower than expected plateau is Japan, with an attach rate of only 3.6. Approximately five million Wii consoles have been sold in Japan which isn't bad at all, but only 16.8 million software sales . This is especially strange because unlike in America and Europe, no game was bundled with the Japanese version. So what are all the Japanese gamers playing...

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DS sales hit 64M, Wii sales hit 20M worldwide

Nintendo announced a healthy profit growth during the first nine months of its fiscal year, thanks to strong, continued sales of the Wii and DS, according to Yahoo! News.

Net profit for the fiscal year has reached over 258.93 billion yen ($2.43 billion), which is up 96.3% from the same period last year of only 131.92 billion yen ($1.24 billion).

In addition, Nintendo announced that Wii sales have hit over 20 million worldwide and 14.29 million Wiis were sold during the latest three quarters. Let's not forget about the DS; Nintendo reported that DS sales have hit over 64 million worldwide and 24.5 million DS' were sold during the last three quarters.

The last we heard about DS sales was back in early December, when the company mentioned they've sold over 17.65 million DS machines worldwide. ...

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Nintendo president Iwata apologizes about SSBB del...

Super Smash Bros Brawl is angering its sometimes maniacal fans more and more because of the new delay that befell it. The fans then take their daily dose of "it's delayed for a good reason" and try to survive the rest of the day without acting crazy. 

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is sorry for the game's fans and wanted to show his feelings through a formal apology when he was interviewed on Wii.com

"Hello, Everyone. My name is Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo Co., Ltd. Beginning today, I would like to deliver an interview that explains the vision and the development process behind the creation of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. But before we begin, I would like to offer an apology.

With the completion of the game falling behind schedule, we were unable to keep our promised release date, despit...

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Ness, Jigglypuff, Lucario joining Smash Bros Brawl...

If we are to believe what could (until recently) be seen in a preview video on the Japanese Wii website, then indeed, Ness, Jigglypuff, and newcomer pokemon Lucario will be joining the Brawl in a few months.

The video in question was designed to introduce players to the new sticker system that will be incorporated into Brawl's adventure mode, but it also inadvertenly revealed the new characters. These stickers can only be used by select brawlers, and the sticker selection screen, of course, lets players know who they are good for. It does this with small icons depicting those particular characters.

In the video, which has since been modified, sharp-eyed viewers could pick out low-res images of Ness, Jigglypuff and Lucario in that information bar, so expect to wield baseball bats, sleep-ind...

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January 21st Virtual Console releases

Here I am on a glorious Hawaiian Monday, and I wake up to discover that Nintendo's Virtual Console has been updated, yet again, with just two more titles. I am now 100% resigned to the fact that the service has slowed down on a semi-permanent basis.

The good news is that this week's pair of games isn't half bad. Adventures of Lolo 2 can be quite a fun, albeit slightly unforgiving little puzzler, and Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers is a big update to the greatest 2D fighting franchise of the early 90s.

On a side note, have a bit of a problem with Nintendo's Virtual Console release strategy, particularly the way they deal with these sequels (first releasing Street Fighter II, then Street Fighter II Turbo, and now The New Challengers). It just seems like a cheap ploy to make t...

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Square Enix's prez calls the Wii a toy

Yoichi Wada, the powerful president over at castle Square Enix called the Nintendo Wii a "toy". A toy compared to the competition makes it sound like the Wii is a gimick or a fad. I had the exact same thought of the Nintendo Wii before it was released, when all we knew about it was its name and its "remote-like" controller.

I honestly told myself and others that Nintendo was taking a very big risk in changing how games were meant to be played.

Mr. Wada clarifies his statement by saying "Nintendo seems to place a great emphasis on Wii Sports and Fit rather than Zelda, a role-playing game. In my opinion, if they expose the functions in this way, they are making the Wii look like a toy."

True the Nintendo Wii is lacking in the RPG department, action-adventure, fighters, and first/third person...

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No online for Worms: A Space Oddity

Anyone who has played any of the Worms titles can attest to the fact that it's just plain fun blowing up the little invertebrates with bombs, missiles and other explosive weapons of doom and destruction.

The next game coming up in this series for the Wii, called Worms: A Space Oddity, will have more of the same hilarious gameplay action but with one major omission -- it won't have online multiplayer as was first announced for the game.

This will probably put a dampener on a lot of people's expectations as an online multiplayer would have been a blast, so to speak. Team 17's explanation for leaving out the online multiplayer mode was this:

"We've chosen to focus on making the best possible local multiplayer experience through fast-paced gameplay and entertaining party-games. Players will ge...

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Famitsu gives Smash Bros perfect score

Make me a promise. Promise me that you'll read the entire article before you go running off screaming the praises of Smash Bros all over the internet. Deal? OK.

TheTanooki.com has gotten their hands on a scan of the latest issue of Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu. At the end of the SSBB review, a sea of hiragana, katakana, and kanji, we can discern four Arabic numbers. 10. 10. 10. 10.

A perfect score. The game will now join the ranks of only six other games in history to receive a perfect score from Famitsu: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Soulcalibur, Vagrant Story, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Nintendogs, Final Fantasy XII, and, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. A distinguished list, to be sure.

Some will say that big name--big release games are reviewed by Famitsu with the reader in...

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Smash Bros. Brawl delayed

On today's update on the Smash Bros Dojo, Sakurai posted, "Due to delays in the completion of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, we've had to change the release date of the game to Sunday, March 9th. I deeply apologize to the people who have looked forward to playing the game for so long and ask that you hold on just a little longer. Thank you for your patience."

So there you have it; Brawl has been delayed until March 9. A few writers are still awake right now, but I got chosen to be the bearer of bad news. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe other people thought if they didn't write the story, it wasn't true. Or maybe they didn't want to be shot for being the messenger.

Am I the only person who doesn't really care about this game? And does it make me a bad person if I find my SSBB-obsessed friends' reaction t...

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January 14th Virtual Console releases

Is Nintendo slowing things down on the Virtual Console?

This is the second week in a row that only two games have found their way onto the release list, making early 2008 a slow time for the classics.  Today's update consists of the Dr. Mario- and Tetris-inspired Pac Attack, as well as Riot Zone for the Turbografx16.

In Pac Attack, falling blocks and ghosts must be cleared before they fill up the screen. The big difference between this game and Tetris is that when a number of ghosts are lined up, Pac Man comes down for a quick snack, munching all he can. Riot Zone is a fairly generic Final Fight clone that was released just following Capcom's classic.

Read on for more details from Nintendo's press release:

Pac-Attack (Super NES®, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points): Pac...

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Sam & Max coming to the Wii

According to a German press release via JoWooD (which published Sam & Max: Season 1 in Europe), it appears Sam & Max will be coming to a Wii near you. While I admit my German isn't exactly fluent (or existent), it's hard to miss the meaning of the release. You know, the little things -- like Sam & Max and Nintendo Wii in the same sentence. (A quick run through Babelfish and a quick confirmation from a German speaking friend also help.)

No word yet on whether or not the Wii title will be a new game or a port, but I'd venture a guess that we'll be seeing Season 1 on the Wii. With Zack & Wiki and now Sam & Max, the Wii is becoming the go-to console for good ol' fashioned adventure games. If anyone happens to read German or wants to attempt their own translation, the relevant portion of the re...

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Captain Olimar & Pikmin joining Smash Bros roster

It had been a while since a new Super Smash Bros Brawl character was last announced, but a couple of days ago, game director Masahiro Sakurai introduced Captain Olimar to the fray via the Smash Bros Dojo blog.

Olimar comes equipped with all five types of his little friends, and without them, he's pretty much useless. The critters can be plucked from the ground anywhere Olimar stands, with each type of terrain lending itself to the production of certain varieties.

Each color Pikmin has it's own properties, such as flame-based attacks for red Pikmin or long-range for Yellow ones. They are further detailed over at the Smash Bros Dojo, along with a few nifty special moves.

I, for one, am pretty interested to see these guys in action. Only one month to go...

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Wii Fit moves 1 million copies

Wii Fit is the brain child of Shigeru Miyamoto, but unlike his other creations, it is strictly aimed at the casual crowd.

When unveiled at E3 last year it intrigued people, but many hardcore fans felt betrayed in that Nintendo's biggest announcement didn't involve a new game from the main Nintendo franchises.

Nintendo though, is obviously onto something when it comes to appeasing the casual gamer. Wii Fit has moved over one million copies since its release in Japan. Surprising, but not totally unexpected. Now the question becomes if Wii Fit will become a hit on American shores and elsewhere. With one million copies already sold in Japan, it maybe an indication that Nintendo has another winner. But this isn't a sure thing.

Remember that the Japanese and American markets have different tast...

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New term in medical dictionary: Wii-itis

When you leave the creativity up to the Ph.D. stiffs this is what happens.

This may be the nastiest series of gaming related illnesses since those Japanese Voltron games started giving people seizures, or that time Warcraft killed off half of China.

There's a nasty new medical condition in town and its called Wii-itis. At least that's what the New England Journal of Medicine is calling it. Like I said, very creative.

Doctors are reporting a large increase in the number of people complaining of aches and pains since the Christmas season. They are attributing it to the fact that because of the Wii, folks are getting up and about and using muscles they haven't used in a while, such as rotator cuff muscles.

They are also saying that some people have gone overboard with it, and are play...

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Nintendo's Wii scores an Emmy for excellence

The Emmy Awards, from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences have bestowed the coveted award for excellence in engineering creativity to Nintendo's Wii for its motion-sensing controllers and to the DS' touch screen control.

Nintendo of America VP of operations, Don James said, "The pioneering interfaces for Wii and Nintendo DS reflect our long tradition of seeking new ways to enhance the gaming experience for users at every level. We're grateful for this award and thank the academy for honoring us a second time."

Last year, Nintendo scored an Emmy for its plus-shaped D-pad configuration.

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