Gamernode: Latest Wii News

Nintendo responds to fake Wii conspiracy story

Suspicious onlookers everywhere are crying "conspiracy!" at Nintendo, accusing them of feeding the media with stories faking the hype about the demand for the Wii console. Ok, so this is no Kennedy assassination, but it's still a big deal. Big enough to piss off Nintendo.

The cause of the rumor began when two UK newspapers ran identical articles about families paying over the odds (a quaint way of saying over paid) for the Wii. Maxconsole immediately ate this up and suggested that it was no coincidence and that Nintendo could have injected it's own rumors to both publications to boost the demand of the Wii.

Nintendo defends itself by saying "...there is absolutely no truth whatsoever in what they have written, it is totally unsubstantiated and merely rumour that they are reporting as fact. ...

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November 26th Virtual Console releases

Another Monday, another Virtual Console update. This is the welcome-back-from-a-long-weekend-of-face- stuffing-and-family-gatherings edition, and sees players getting thrust into the casino, onto the basketball court, and into the ocean.

Tara the baby orca will be sure to count all your chips for you as you take part in fierce simulated gambling, and Kitnee the young Atlantic dolphin will be throwing 'oops for you to hawk on your opponents. Have fun.

From the press release:

DOUBLE DRIBBLE (NES, 1-2 players, rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): DOUBLE DRIBBLE, the first 5-on-5, full-court home basketball game, is pure hoops action at its finest. While still a surprisingly accurate basketball game for its time, the frantic action keeps you on your toes as your players run from one end o...

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1400 Wiis sold out in 10 minutes on Amazon

I don't know how, but the Nintendo Wii continues to sell out like it's still launch day. Last week Amazon unleashed their next batch of Wii stock for some early holiday shoppers, and they sold out. Fast. 1,400 Wiis in ten minutes fast.

With Christmas fast approaching, things don't look like they'll get any better. Nintendo is shipping almost 2 million Wiis a month, but many people still can't find one since launch.

Meanwhile, if anyone's looking for a Wii, the stores near Portland, OR always seem to be swarming with them. Maybe they're keeping all the extras in the Pacific Northwest since it's cheaper to ship from Seattle to Portland? (Or maybe it's because the Northwest is Microsoft Country?)

[via Gameater]

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Tri-Crescendo developing new Wii RPG

The newest issue of Famitsu has revelead that Tri-Crescendo (Baten Kaitos, Eternal Sonata) is working on a new Wii-exclusive RPG titled Fragile: Farewell Ruins of the Moon.

Fragile is set in the near future, in a world that has lost it's light and population and is covered in a dense fog. You play as a boy named Seto, searching the abandoned cities for clues to what happened, and for a companion.

Not a whole lot is known about the actual gameplay yet, other than a large portion of it will involve the use of a flashlight, which is controlled by pointing the Wii remote at the screen. Seto also has a metal detector which supposedly is used via the remote, and holds a stick, although its purpose and use isn't really known yet.

According to the game's website on November 24 more information wil...

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SMG sold over 500K copies within first week in U.S...

So how about that Super Mario Galaxy? Considering its been accumulating rave reviews like no tomorrow, including a 9.5 from Brendon and Eddie, it must of sold pretty well at retail, right?

Courtesy of this press release, George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing, revealed that Super Mario Galaxy sold over 500,000 copies within its first week of sales in the U.S. Also the game had the strongest one-week debut of any Wii title to date.

"Super Mario Galaxy had the strongest one-week debut of any Wii game to date and has also become the best-selling Mario title ever in its first week, with U.S. sales of more than 500,000, based on internal sales figures. It makes an easy gift choice as the holiday shopping season kicks off."

You still got it in you Mario, bravo!

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Wii is one year old and still going strong

Last year, Nintendo's Wii was released upon the world and gaming, for many millions of people, has never been the same since. The Wii celebrated its one year birthday and Reggie Fils-Aime had a lot of crowing to do during this auspicious occasion. 

Since the debut of the Wii, the cute little game console seems to be in a state of constant shortage. Fils-Aime said, "We can sell every single unit that we put into the pipeline, from a distribution standpoint. For us, it really is all about maximizing where we put those units on a worldwide basis."

This Christmas doesn't seem to be looking too good for potential Wii buyers as the supply line is already reported to be drying up like spilt water on the Sahara Desert.

Fils-Aime continued by saying, "Right now, there is no competition for us using th...

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Nintendo making 1.8 million Wiis per month

So we've all heard the accusations that Nintendo was holding back some of its Wii stock, just to make consumers want it more, but in a recent interview, The Big N's George Harrison asserts that the company is doing all it can to meet the demands of the drooling masses.

"We’re still expecting some shortages in December. But we’re not going to be pulling back on our marketing."

"We're at a rate now worldwide of about 1.8 million Wiis produced every month...We're trying to make decisions on almost a weekly basis about which market to ship the product to...It's almost an embarrassment of opportunity in terms of where to place those Wii hardware units."

They are producing 1.8 million Wii consoles a month, and they are still having trouble meeting demands? I guess that's why Harrison a...

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November 19th Virtual Console releases

It's the one year anniversary edition of Nintendo's Virtual Console update, and it couldn't be more...spectacular(?).

This week, Nintendo brings us the classic titles Wrecking Crew, Sonic 3D Blast, and Super Air Zonk, none of which are particularly exciting to this GN writer, especially with all the top-notch software coming out for the current generation platforms. I just have no time after the inundation of games I'm currently wading through. Maybe some of the GN faithful can get more out of this week's update than I.

From the press release:

Wrecking Crew (NES®, 1-2 players, rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): In the days before Mario and Luigi became sports stars in their downtime between plumbing and saving the Princess, they tried their hands as one-man wrecking crews. With a hammer ...

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House of the Dead confirmed for the Wii

I guess somebody really liked how Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles turned out, because just three days after Capcom's on-rails shooter was released, Sega announced that The House Of The Dead 2 & 3 Return is headed to the Wii in the spring of 2008.

This game will basically be a port of the two arcade games (or possibly the Dreamcast and Xbox 360 versions, slapped together on one disc for gamers' zombie-blasting pleasure.

Read on for Sega's press release:

SEGA ANNOUNCES THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2 & 3 RETURN FOR THE Wii

Horror Arcade Game to Bring Non-Stop Shooting Action

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON (November 15, 2007) - SEGA® of America, Inc. and SEGA® Europe Ltd. today announced that THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2 & 3 RETURN is coming to the Wii home video game system from Nintendo. Combining two arcade gam...

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New SNES Wii controller for next year...in Japan

Ok, we've seen all the gimmicks and special edition games out there in an effort to pry some more money out of our wallets and purses. Some of the stuff is good and some of it isn't so good. But there's something that really looks like a winner this time. 

How'd you like to get a hold of your very own SNES styled Wii controller? Now, that would be the perfect meeting of old school and new school.

There's one slight problem though, it'll only be available in Japan. The neat accessory is slated to be released sometime next year in April and you have to be a Club Nintendo member to score on this item by redeeming Club Nintendo points.

And just where do you get these? Silly boy, you get them with the purchase of Nintendo games which have inserts inside of the box.

But as things go, you'll probabl...

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Wii losing MP3 playback in Photo Channel upgrade

Usually, when your game machine gets an upgrade or firmware swap, it usually means you get more, and not less. According to Nintendo, upgrade 1.1 for its Photo Channel will actually remove the capacity of your Wii to play MP3 music files. In its place will be support for the ACC and MP4 formats.

Nintendo says, "The Wii console will replace MP3 compatibility with the ability to play AAC files, which provide a greater sound quality than an MP3 of the same size. This new compatibility will work with MP4 audio files in the .m4a format. Additionally, you can now choose to have the songs play back in a random order."

The Wii update will be coming in December. "For Wii Console owners without the AAC file compatibility, you can download the updated version of the Photo Channel from the Wii Shop Cha...

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More Guitar Hero III Wii issues

For a musical timing game, you would think that Guitar Hero III would have put a great deal of effort in perfecting the audio. Well, there have already been a lot of complaints about Guitar Hero 3's Wii port and Dolby Prologic 2 users were the first to be affected.

After a little more time with the game, owners are beginning to claim that the game only outputs in mono. When switched to the built in stereo mode, the same exact music is pumped into both speakers providing "dual mono"

Kurty, a member of the official Guitar Hero forums, did a detailed analysis on the songs, and received the exact same results for both speakers. The Vicarious Visions logo and the crowd noises however, are in true stereo, with each speaker receiving different signals.

Common people, let's bring you're A-game to the...

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November 12th Virtual Console releases

Well, it doesn't look like Nintendo is increasing its Virtual Console output in an attempt to reach Reggie's claim of "200 VC games by year's end" just yet. This week is another three-game update, featuring Volleyball, Axelay, and Blue's Journey.

On the day that Super Mario Galaxy hits store shelves, though, I'm not so sure anyone will care what else is available on Nintendo's little white box.

Read on for the details from the press release:

Volleyball (NES®, 1-2 players, rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): Step onto the court in one of the first volleyball games ever made. Select either the men's or women's competition, choose from one of eight available countries to represent, and prepare for some intensely fun game play. The straightforward controls include all the moves you'll need...

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200 Virtual Console games by year's end?

During his speech at Tuesday's BMO Capital Markets Conference, Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime said that 200 games will be available for download on the Wii's Virtual Console by the end of the year.

That is an interesting claim, because at present, only 166 titles are available via the Wii Shop channel. With just eight Mondays left in 2007, an average of four-and-a-quarter games would have to be released each week to acheive a total library of 200. Up to this point, Nintendo has been fairly consistent with their schedule of three games per week.

Either they are going to augment that weekly number, or they are planning some sort of other special initiative for the holiday season, but either way, they are NOT on schedule to make good on The Regginator's declaration.

He wouldn't lie, would...

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If you're not finding the treasure, you're not pay...

Game|Life recently sat down with Hironobu Takeshita, producer of the innovative Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure, to ask a few questions about the game. Of everything said in the interview, the best is when Takeshita basically says that if you can't solve the puzzles then you aren't paying attention.

"There are puzzles where, if you don't look properly at the hints in the start, you're going to be in trouble. But one of the main ways to play this game is to look at the screen. You have to look at the screen -- all the answers that you need to solve the puzzles are there on the screen. There are some people who say they don't understand the puzzles, but really, they're not paying enough attention. All the answers to the puzzles are right there if you're able to solve them."

He also ...

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No, he's not playable - MGS Ninja in Smash Bros. B...

When this news first dropped into my lap, all I read were four words: "MGS" "Ninja" "in" "SSBB" (ok, half of those are acronyms, but you get the idea). Unfortunately, Gray Fox will NOT be playable in Nintendo's all-star brawler, but will be used as an Assist Trophy.

Basically, he's just a weapon to use against your opponent, which is still better than no Ninja at all. Over at the Smash Bros. Dojo, game director Masahiro Sakurai describes how Gray Fox will join the fray:

"He approaches stealthily with lithe jumps, coming right in then slicing repeatedly. Awww! It makes you want to use him as a playable character. By the way, he reflects projectiles."

Of course it makes us want to use him as a playable character! Thanks for rubbing it in...

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November 5th Virtual Console releases

This week's Virtual Console update is just about as close to a one-game show as it's going to get. Super Mario Bros. 3 has finally found its way onto the Wii, in an obvious effort to drum up some extra excitement for the pasta-loving plumber prior to Super Mario Galaxy's release.

It looks like Alien Soldier and Power Golf must've drawn the short straws when the Virtual Console release schedule was inked, because SMB3 is most certainly going to be the download of choice this week. This line from the press release is the icing on the cake (or should I say the salt in the wound?):

"It's not just any game, it's Super Mario Bros. 3 – considered by many to be the greatest video game of all time (for at least one more week, anyway)."

While you read the official descriptions, I think I'm goin...

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Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles weapons trailer...

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles is almost upon us, and I have to say that it is looking pretty good. I've always been a big fan of the franchise, but could never get into either Dead Aim or Survivor, so I'm hoping against Umbrella Chronicles can buck that trend. If nothing else, at least the weaponry is well-executed.

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Iwata says Nintendo won't rush their next console

At Nintendo's recent Q3 financial results conference, company president Satoru Iwata shot down the idea of realeasing a new console every four to five years, as is the current trend in the industry. His reasoning for this is that new hardware should be released when the market is ready for a change, not when a hardware manufacturer reaches a pre-set deadline.

"I'm quite doubtful that such a notion of platform cycles can be applied in the future...As we continue our research and study for new hardware, when we will be able to launch a new kind of hardware will actually depend on when we can change entertainment completely, and so have a strong impact on people around the world. Or, there will certainly be a time when we have to say that we have done everything possible with the current mac...

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Buy Mario Galaxy at Toys R Us, get $25 gift card f...

If you own a Wii and won't be buying Super Mario Galaxy, please stand up. Is anyone standing? I'll assume no, because you'd be an odd person indeed to have a Wii and not get this one. (Forgivable excuses include: lack of money, being sick, or being a fool.)

For those of us picking up the lovable mascot's latest title, Toys R Us is offering a deal where you can get a $25 gift certificate just by picking up SMG in the store. That's about half of most other current games, depending on your platform of choice. If you haven't preordered yet and live near a TRU, why not take advantage of the deal?

And if you don't want the gift card, I'm sure there's someone who is writing this news right now that would gladly take it off your hands for you. 

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