Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => Gaming Discussion => Topic started by: Deepblue on September 13, 2006, 11:38:34 pm
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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/busine...intendo14.html
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Nintendo gets Wii ready for holidays
Company plans to put console on market Nov. 19
By SETH SCHIESEL
THE NEW YORK TIMES
In a move that may allow Nintendo of Japan to take advantage of stumbles by its main rival, the company plans to announce today that it will release its new Wii video-game console in North and South America on Nov. 19, just as the holiday shopping season begins, and that the machine will cost $250 in the United States.
Nintendo executives said this week that the company also would announce today that more than 25 new games would be available for its video-game machine this year, a substantial portfolio from several genres that is intended to help the company broaden the appeal of its console. The company plans to ship 4 million of the Wii consoles worldwide this year.
Nintendo also will explain today a plan to expand the video-game market beyond its core of young men.
Today's announcement comes as Nintendo's main rival, Sony, has been forced to delay and scale back the introduction of its own game machine, the PlayStation 3, at least twice amid serious troubles with that company's new Blu-ray Disc technology.
Last week, Sony said that the PlayStation 3 would not be introduced in Europe until 2007 and that it would ship millions fewer units worldwide this year than it had promised. The top version of the PlayStation 3 is expected to cost around $600.
Another competitor, Microsoft, has sold more than 5 million of the Xbox 360 game console since its introduction in 2005 and hopes to sell more than 10 million by year's end.
Nintendo's Wii (pronounced we) is less technically ambitious than Sony's PS3, which is why it will cost far less and be far more available in stores this holiday season. To market the Wii, Nintendo hopes to make up in innovation and accessibility what the machine lacks in sheer silicon horsepower.
Nintendo is No. 3 in the console video game market, behind Sony and Microsoft. But while those competitors have largely focused on appealing to hard-core gamers, Nintendo is now trying to appeal to a broader audience.
"Our goal is to bring gaming back to the masses," Reggie Fils-Aime, president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America, said in a telephone interview. "You see that in our pricing, you see that in the number of units we plan to make available this year and you see that in how we are positioning the Wii to appeal to every member of the household, including but not limited to the hard-core gamer."
advertising
The Wii's major innovation is a wireless controller that the user can tilt and point to produce action on the screen. In a sword-fighting game, for instance, the player can simply swing the controller to thrust and parry with an on-screen blade; there is no need to master the complicated combinations of buttons and triggers that make many video games so intimidating to the reflex-challenged.
Nintendo intends to announce today that every Wii will come with a game compilation called Wii Sports -- including tennis, golf, baseball and bowling -- meant to show off the machine's intuitive controls. (Most consoles, including Nintendo's GameCube, do not come with games included.)
Nintendo plans to announce that 25 to 30 top-tier games will be available for the Wii this year. The most-anticipated game comes from Nintendo itself: an installment of the long-running "Legend of Zelda" series, "Twilight Princess."
Nintendo also will deliver a driving game called "Excite Truck" this year but will likely provide a minor disappointment to gamers in saying the next version of the popular "Mario" franchise will not arrive until 2007.
Nintendo intends to charge $50 for its Wii games, $10 less than the standard price for Xbox 360 titles and the same price generally charged for GameCube games.
Top games expected to be introduced for the Wii this year from third-party publishers include a version of "Madden NFL" from Electronic Arts, the sword-fighting game "Red Steel" from Ubisoft of France, an addition to the "Sonic" action series from Sega of Japan and a "Tony Hawk" action-sports game from Activision.
While Nintendo is certainly counting on the success of top-tier games sold at retail, many gamers may be at least as excited by the Wii's Virtual Console, which will allow players to download versions of older Nintendo games from the Internet.
Nintendo plans to announce today that about 30 classic games will be available for download when the Wii is released, including ones from the "Zelda," "Mario" and "Donkey Kong" franchises. Downloadable games will cost about $5 to $10 each.
More broadly, Nintendo hopes to make the Wii a living-room centerpiece by including various media channels meant to appeal to and draw in people who do not consider themselves gamers.
There will be a photo channel that will allow users to use the Wii to display digital photographs on television.
There also will be an easy-to-use interactive news channel and weather channel.
Perhaps most intriguing, the Wii will make it possible to browse the Web on the television. Microsoft's Xbox 360 does not permit this because that could negate the need to buy a Windows PC.
"We are including all of these capabilities as part of our overall strategy to expand the gaming market," Fils-Aime said. "Broadening the market is important because it will breathe new life into this business. Otherwise, this industry is moving down a path of being more and more limited to the hard-core gamer."
UNDERWHELMATHON?
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UNDERWHELMATHON?
What the hell are you talking about? There is finally a date in place! WIIIIIIII
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I demand an Australian release date!
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Australia + Release = :nervous:
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Nice! Low price, Zelda, free games, Zelda, new control mechanism, Zelda... did I mention Zelda?
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Are you kidding me? For the kind of hardware it's packing, it should be at least $50 cheaper.
At this point, I'm getting a used GCN + Zelda.
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Are you kidding me? For the kind of hardware it's packing, it should be at least $50 cheaper.
Don't undersell the hardware until you've played the damn thing. Just because it can't show high-resolution fully-dynamic chest-hair in Hi-definition at 60 fps doesn't suddenly mean it should be shelled out on street-corners for $20 a pop. I believe the exact specs aren't even known at the moment, and we certainly don't know just how far it can be pushed.
At this point, I'm getting a used GCN + Zelda.
That's entirely your prerogative, although may I suggest you also pick up [second hand or no] both Metroid Prime games and Resident Evil 4? They will certainly make the purchase more than worthwhile. :yes:
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Res Evil 1 remake and Twin snakes, Both primes are secondary to these. :nod:
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I never could find Twin Snakes. I was so looking forward to getting it, but it just never surfaced here. ****ing hell, I hate the unbearably primitive gaming culture in Australia right now, and it's almost as if it's getting worse.
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I demand an Australian release date!
shoot for march, IMO
I never could find Twin Snakes. I was so looking forward to getting it, but it just never surfaced here. ****ing hell, I hate the unbearably primitive gaming culture in Australia right now, and it's almost as if it's getting worse.
i don't think nintendo could find a distributor for it, and given the abysmal sales of the GC, here....
go to any Harvey norman store in tasmania, and you will not find it, peroid, even the local EB Games has a poor showing of nintendo software that isn't part of the Gameboy lineage
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Twin snakes-------
http://www.amazon.com/Metal-Gear-Solid-Nintendo-GameCube/dp/B0000A09EN/sr=8-1/qid=1158237734/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-8202924-1271842?ie=UTF8&s=videogames
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Ever heard of PAL, Dekker?
Myself, I imported a copy from the UK. As far as I'm aware that's the only way to get it here.
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I'm in the UK, I dunno what format Oz-Cubes take :P
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The same one. The one you linked to is NTSC; you can tell by the cover art.
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I'm in the UK, I dunno what format Oz-Cubes take :P
the UK models are PAL, same as Australia, problem is, can't find a cube, and there's no real point in me getting a cube just for one game.
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http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0006D39OU/pricerunner-21/ref=nosim
80 with mazza kart.
http://shop.gameplay.co.uk/webstore/game_shop.asp?platform=NGC
Loads of deals like Metroid prime 2 for 30.......
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Are you kidding me? For the kind of hardware it's packing, it should be at least $50 cheaper.
Don't undersell the hardware until you've played the damn thing. Just because it can't show high-resolution fully-dynamic chest-hair in Hi-definition at 60 fps doesn't suddenly mean it should be shelled out on street-corners for $20 a pop. I believe the exact specs aren't even known at the moment, and we certainly don't know just how far it can be pushed.
At this point, I'm getting a used GCN + Zelda.
That's entirely your prerogative, although may I suggest you also pick up [second hand or no] both Metroid Prime games and Resident Evil 4? They will certainly make the purchase more than worthwhile. :yes:
According to the pres of gearbox, the wii is a slightly faster GameCube.
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Aw, who cares about the hardware. N has a long history of making great games, and you know what? I don't buy a console to go "Ohhhh, pretty graphics", I buy it to play fun games. Graphics are a tertiary concern.
Wiiiiiiiiii! :D
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I'm engraving "REVOLUTION" on my Wii... :nervous:
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I'm engraving "REVOLUTION" on my Wii... :nervous:
ARG... must... resist... temptation...
Wouldn't that hurt?
*runs*
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*shoots in the head with Tranq gun*
Darn it.......
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According to the pres of gearbox, the wii is a slightly faster GameCube.
Your point? It's almost as if you're saying it's not worth buying because Big N hasn't stuffed supar-hardware into it.
Anyway, I'm plenty happy with the graphics of some of the later GCN games. Even if the improvement is marginal to non-existant, I won't really care.
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I'm almost ashamed to admit that Harvest Moon is one of the few Console games I enjoy playing (on an emulator) :nervous:
I'd like to own a Wii, but I'm not in any rush, so I'll leave it till the prices drop a bit. It won't take long, it never does ;) But I'd say that challenge and fun whilst playing the game can easily make up for limitations in the Graphics,
The Wii will not support DVD playback, it's not pretending to be anything other than a games console, and I expect that the hardware in there, whilst not as advanced, will not be nearly as demanding of power or productive of heat.
It's a little more expensive than I would have liked, but like I said, that'll drop soon enough ;)
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From my thread on the HL forum as I forgot there was a Gaming forum:
From IGN Article
Nintendo revealed that Wii's various controllers would be available to buy separately at launch. The Wii remote will cost $39.99; the nunchuck $19.99 and the classic controller about $20.
A little steep, $60 for the full function controller. Anyone know anything about the "Classic controller"? I haven't seen anything on it.
[edit again] Nevermind, I've already seen it before, but thought it was just some random guy's concept art. Looks like I was wrong: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/topics/wii_preview/presentation/14.html [/edit again]
In addition, the Opera browser will be available for the system, enabling users to access the web with the console.
:yes:
One of the channels available on Wii is called the "Mii Channel." Here, players can customize avatars by selecting from a variety of face shapes, hair styles, color schemes, and so on. The hook is that these avatars can not only be stored on the console itself, they can also be transferred to the Wii remote itself -- presumably so players can easily access their personalized characters and take them with them when playing against friends.
Another unnecessary, but cool feature.
It's definitely the cheapest of next-gen consoles, but to have to drop an extra $180 so four people can play makes me have some reservations. I'm not THAT rich.
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Well, at least we know it won't shut down after 2 hours due to heat. (*cough* 360 *cough*) :D
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shoot for march, IMO
For once my optimism pays off: http://www.pro-g.co.uk/news/15-09-2006-3627.html
December 7.
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I know it's always a bad idea to purchase a console on release, but whom may I ask plans to do so anyway?
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december 8th in europe, at €250. apparently stores have stopped taking preorders here, as it's already a shortage (they've taken more preorders than machines). guess I'll have to wait until spring anyway, then.
Mefustae: I would've, but...
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Why the $250 and €250 price difference?
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because europe always gets screwed anally when it comes to consoles.
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My 360 has yet to have any errors whatsoever...
It does get warm though.
EDIT:
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3153671
Amidst the flurry of announcements today, one of overlooked details was Nintendo's decision to charge money for the ability to browse the Internet on Wii. According to the official wording by Nintendo:
Internet Channel: This channel dramatically changes the relationship between a user's home, the television and the Internet. Users download the Opera browser with Wii points. Then they can surf the Internet right from the comfort of their couch. They can do quick research while watching a television program ("What was that actor's name again?"). Or book travel plans and shop during commercials. The service is compatible with Macromedia Flash.
Keep in mind, however, the browser will be free for some time after Wii's released worldwide; Nintendo will not start charging until June of next year. What the motivation is behind such a specific date, however, is a complete mystery to us, and we wonder why the clarification wasn't made during the US conference.
Will Nintendo offer the service for free overseas, but not here? That would be some bizarre logic, but we currently don't have confirmation one way or the other. Nintendo of America would only confirm to 1UP that the Opera browser will cost Wii points, and couldn't delve into price specifics.
Now, on the one hand, Nintendo also charged for an Opera browser on Nintendo DS, but realistically, they had to. The dual-screen portable doesn't have enough internal memory to keep the program that saved, and DS cartridges, while cheaper to produce than GBA ones, aren't free. With PSP, however, Sony developed a web browser gamers could download, saved forever via Memory Stick.
In this case, Wii has the on-board memory capable of storing Virtual Console games, other downloadable content and a web browser simultaneously.
The Opera browser in its original incarnation is freely available on the Internet itself, but if they can charge for it and people will pay, why not? Just make sure you don't miss the deadline.
You have to be kidding me. :(
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yeah, seriously.
it's adobe flash now!
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Adobe Flash............................*head promptly explodes*
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Oh well, it's not like I don't have a computer I can surf the web with anyway. Besides, if Nintendo was so set on making this a machine specifically for gaming, why does anyone have to be surfing?
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dood surfin' games you noe.
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Just buy th' Wii afore June o' next year. Yarrrrr, by Davy Jones's locker! That's gives ye at least 6 months t' get one wot isn't first generation.
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Arrrr, :lol:
In all honesty, i'll probably impulse buy one from a major chain, its only £150 tops i 'm led to believe so its no skin off my b**ls. :D
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I think I won't get the opera browse, but the moment I find out when Gamestop is accepting pre-orders I'm putting one in! :D
Can't wait for the end of November......
Wiiiiiiiiiiiiii!
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I'm considering pre-ordering two, one to pawn off on eBay. Might try to do that with the ps3 also. Think it'll work like it did for everyone else who did that with the x360?
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I'm thinking Nintendo will have a large supply because of the Gamecube-age hardware. So, it's probably not going to get quite as much play on eBay as the PS3.
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PS3 it is then. I already know guys who want to camp out for it so they can buy two each, one for themselves, one for profit. ;)
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Ok, I thought the death-blow to the PS3 is its absurd price. Who has $1200 to just throw around on two such systems? :confused:
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Well, the price is now down 20% on the 20 GB system.
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Basically the way I hope it goes down is I make a $600 investment on a PS3 the day it comes out (this will include camping out in line I imagine), then immediately after purchase I jump onto my laptop, find some wireless internet, and post it on eBay, hopefully selling it for $850+, then my $250 profit can buy me a Wii. :p It probably won't happen though, because I'm pretty lazy when it comes to waiting in lines.
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Adds Wii to Christmas list.
Very carefull to spell 'Wii' correctly
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Well, the price is now down 20% on the 20 GB system.
In Japan only.
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Well, the price is now down 20% on the 20 GB system.
In Japan only.
In America and Europe, it's still far less expensive than the PS3 or 360. :nod:
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Well, the price is now down 20% on the 20 GB system.
In Japan only.
In America and Europe, it's still far less expensive than the PS3 or 360. :nod:
Me and Deepblue were discussing the PS3 actually, but yes.
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Technically the Wii is only $50 cheaper than the X360...
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Right, because everyone should buy the "core system" only or whatever.
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Well, the price is now down 20% on the 20 GB system.
In Japan only.
In America and Europe, it's still far less expensive than the PS3 or 360. :nod:
Me and Deepblue were discussing the PS3 actually, but yes.
Oh, my bad. I got confused after reading some article that said the Wii price in Japan = only about $220 here and in Europe. I thought you were referring to that, my bad! :o
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But compared to the functionality of the wii, it's a fine deal.
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Why? Because the Wii doesn't have as much horsepower? There's more to take into account when buying consoles (and cars too!) than horsepower in my opinion.
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Why? Because the Wii doesn't have as much horsepower? There's more to take into account when buying consoles (and cars too!) than horsepower in my opinion.
Like games.......also, IIRC the Wii contains a free game (Wii Sports, which i'm classing as such as apparently it's being sold seperately in Japan), has free internet play and includes onboard memory as standard, and - combined with a radically different approach to what constitutes next-gen - means it isn't a fair like-for-like comparison. The 360 core is a hobbled graphics box; the Wii is something more ambitious IMO (I'd hesistate to suggest the term 'gameplay box' in that it's trying to advance the actual playing aspect; something I appreciate by dint of having tried out the awful IMO 360 pad and knowing the faults of the Dualshock design reused in the PS3).
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The 360 includes a free game of far more value (Hexic, yes, that is something you will play far longer than "Wii sports"). The internet is only free for a few months, and obviously is not necessary as you are already posting on the interenet. The controller is merely a input method, and does not make the games any better or worse.
Wait, awful 360 pad? The only problem is the d-pad. Maybe it's just your preference, but the greater concensus seems to be that the 360 pad is the best traditional controller yet.
I still feel like the wii is merely a gamecube peripheral. Everything they are doing could be done with the gamecube or a modded xbox, so why is it considered a next-gen console?
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The 360 includes a free game of far more value (Hexic, yes, that is something you will play far longer than "Wii sports").
Are you taking the piss here? Seriously. Hexic, as in the glorified flash game? I note the completely unsupported assertion it is better than Wii sports, something that rather flies in the face of every preview of said sports game I've read (including the strong critical regard for Hexic). Hexic is not really any different than packaging Tetris SNES on the Wii would be. Plus, and rather more crucially, the $300 core system does not include Hexic, as it is sans hard drive. So, again, not a fair comparison.
The internet is only free for a few months, and obviously is not necessary as you are already posting on the interenet. The controller is merely a input method, and does not make the games any better or worse.
I request the honourable gentleman actually reads my post next time;
has free internet play
Wait, awful 360 pad? The only problem is the d-pad. Maybe it's just your preference, but the greater concensus seems to be that the 360 pad is the best traditional controller yet.
I found it horribly twitchy and the position of all the various bodgins uncomfortable. Yes, my preference (how shocking! a personal opinion on the internet!), but I found it hideously awful to use. To be fair, this was playing the utter ga****y of Perfect Dark, so perhaps it's better for other games.
I still feel like the wii is merely a gamecube peripheral. Everything they are doing could be done with the gamecube or a modded xbox, so why is it considered a next-gen console?
Because 'next gen' does not - or should not - equate to simply adding shiny sheen graphics. The 360 and PS3 arguably don't do anything that can't be done with the current gen either, all they actually add is polygons to the same basic gameplay.
To redress to the earlier comment ala controller; firstly, controller input has a vastly important role in game quality. Try getting a ****tier PS2 or Xbox peripheral and comparing it to the 1st party. And that's a relatively trivial difference; as the controller is the players key input method, it has a crucial role in actual enjoyment - it's quite largely why I picked the older PS2 over an Xbox (even though the PS2 controller itself is pretty crap IMO).
Secondly, the importance of the Wii controller is that it allows - and places an impetus upon - new gameplay methods. Even EA has to innovate to make games that sell for the system - it's a step above how the DS touchscreen impacted the DS' software lineup (compare the DS to PSP and the former has in general far more interesting games).
As a converse, the 360 and PS3 only offer improved graphics and some fancy physics. There is nothing inherent to either 'next gen' console that makes games better or worse - arguably, they push towards the 'worse' end as increased asset requirement and development cost drives less ambitious 'safe bet' franchise type titles such as generic shooters and racers, and the hard drive allows reduced bug testing and a 'patch it later' release process (the Wii is as susceptible with it's own flash internal memory, but lower dev costs reduce the drive to push out quickly).
Take something like Lego Star Wars and compare 360 to Ps2, and there is no gameplay advantage, no improvement - nothing that really justifies the £15 increase beyond some fancy graphical effects. But take that title, and envisage it using the Wii remote system for control, and you can see the potential for something vastly more different and unique. This is what excites me, far more than an extra few thousand polys or specular bump mapped ray traced nipples (which I can get on PC if I really wish anyways).
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The internet is only free for a few months, and obviously is not necessary as you are already posting on the interenet.
From what I understand of the article that addresses this, the internet on the Wii is free. However, to get the Opera browser for free, you must buy it before June of 2007. After that, you have to buy it seperately. A clarification after the article stated that it was a one time buy thing, not a monthly thing. So, buy your Wii before 6-07 and you get the internet on it for free. I'll try to find the link and add it...
[edit] http://wii.ign.com/articles/735/735570p1.html
Unfortunately I can't find the original link that clarified that the Opera browser would be a one time buy, only after June 2007 of course. I'm hoping that's still true, and the article I posted just above seems to give that connotation...