124 Titles for the Wii and DS to be Developed by Nintendo

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has said that they are developing 45 games for Wii and 79 games for Nintendo DS. He made the statements at a Japanese press conference. However, these numbers indicate games that are developed in-house by Nintendo as well as the games which are developed by other studios, but are published by Nintendo.

There have been a lot of reports about the lack of original titles for the Wii and Nintendo DS. Though the Wii has just been released, DS has been around from a long time. It did make one wonder why Nintendo has not released any games made by them.

Nintendo has always been referred to as the Mario Factory. But they have always come out with games that have defined genres and Mario and Zelda can be considered as the two of the best video game series. Let’s see, if this time too, Nintendo comes out with something great for their next-gen consoles, Wii and the DS.

Source

New Mobile Phones In Japan Use Motion Like Nintendo Wii

A new mobile phone in Japan from wireless carrier NTT DoCoMo has motion sensors. You can even use the phone to play games through movements, just like the Nintendo Wii game console.

The D904i from Japan’s largest carrier, DoCoMo, comes with a motion sensor that detects shaking and tilting. For game play users “can move the handset like a tennis racket or fishing pole in easy-to-play games, similar to those on Nintendo Co’s popular Wii.”

And the new DoCoMo phone isn’t alone:

Meanwhile, two new phones from Sharp and Matsushita Electric Industrial use their built-in cameras to detect motion. Users can control a hip-hop dancer by wagging a finger in front of the camera, for example, or throw punches in the air for a boxing match.

The new motion-equipped phones are scheduled to ship in Japan in May. No word yet when motion-equipped phones will hit the U.S.

Source

Nintendo Wii Virtual Console Lineup Is A Mighty Bomb

Mighty Bomb Jack, that is.This week the Wii Virtual Console allows you to take on the street thugs of Metro City. Based in the same universe as the Street Fighter games, Final Fight is a much loved side-scrolling beat-em up, originally released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Following the exploits of the Mayor of Metro City, as he takes the law into his own hands to rescue his kidnapped daughter, Final Fight features all the elements of a great fighting title, including sinister bosses to devastating special attacks. Final Fight smashes its way onto the Virtual Console for 800 Points.

Next up among this week’s retro offerings is 1992 action title Mighty Bomb Jack, originally available on the Nintendo Entertainment System. When the entire royal family is kidnapped and imprisoned within a pyramid by evil demon Belzebut, it is up to Jack to use his powers and set them free. With sixteen levels full of nasty enemies and perilous traps to overcome, Mighty Bomb Jack will keep even the most seasoned gamer perched on the edge of their seat for hours on end. Mighty Bomb Jack is available to own now for 500 Points.

Rounding off this week’s offering is Turbografx title Battle Lode Runner. This classic game features both a ‘Puzzle Mode’, where players must collect gold bars while avoiding enemies and a ‘Battle Mode’, which can be played by up to five players. With the addition of a level editor, Battle Lode Runner is available for 600 Wii Points.

These great games will join the list of 78 classic titles already available for the Virtual Console in Europe.

Source: Nintendo

Ninja Spirit and Blazing Lazers to hit the Wii Virtual Console

Hudson has posted new list of titles that will hit the Wii Virtual Console in the future. The games are Ninja Spirit and Blazing Lazers, which were huge hits in the nineties when they were released for the TurboGrafx-16. World Sports Competition could also come to the Nintendo Wii.

Ninja Spirit is a side-scrolling action game developed by Irem. The game is based on a ninja known as Moonlight who lost his father to an inexplicable half-man half-beast creature. He then goes on a quest to revenge his father’s death in feudal Japan. Blazing Lazers is a vertical shooter game developed by Hudson Soft and Compile. The game is about a ship set out to annihilate the enemy space-fleets armada. It features nine levels of non-stop space shooting action.

Ninja Spirit and Blazing Lazers are expected to release in May 2007. The games are priced at 600 Wii Points. These titles will be available for the American Virtual Console. They have not released any details about the European Virtual Console.

Source

Wii® It Is - Wii Trademark Registered

Just a little tidbit on an otherwise uneventful Saturday - the Wii name is now a registered trademark.

The change is noted on Nintendo’s Wii website, with a splash screen displaying the new registered Wii logo.

We’re really sorry, there is really little else to report. We shouldn’t even need to tell you about the recent rise in stock prices, or whatever other financial grumble comes from the mouth of Forbes, regardless of how outstandingly interesting it is.
Source

Hudson Reveals May Nintendo Wii VC Lineup

Perhaps the biggest supporter of Nintendo’s Virtual Console has thus far been Hudson Soft, which has continually pumped out TG-16 titles on an almost weekly basis since the console’s launch last November. One way it shows this support is by announcing in advance new titles that will hit the service.

Now, Hudson Soft has revealed on its official Virtual Console website that the following four TG-16 titles will be released sometime in May:

• Blazing Lazers
• Ninja Spirit
• Ordyne
• World Sports Competition

Blazing Lazers and Ninja Spirit are probably the two most well-known titles of those four, with the former being a well-regarded vertical shooter and the latter being an action title in the vein of Shinobi. Ordyne is a horizontal space shooter, but notable on a console full of those already for the fact that it was never released outside of Japan before now. Finally, World Sports Competition is your classic Olympics type sports title, with 18 or so events including shooting, archery, track, etc.

All four titles will be released for 600 Wii Points. The website also now confirms that Shockman will be released this coming Monday, as we’ve speculated on before.

Source

Nintendo Purchases a Monolith

According to video game blog Joystiq (who cite sources of their own), console and software maker Nintendo has just purchased the controlling interest of Japanese Development studio Monolith Soft. Bandai Namco, which once held 96% of the company’s stock, sold all but 16% of it to Nintendo.

Monolith Soft – not to be mistaken for F.E.A.R.- and Condemned-developer Monolith Productions – is the studio responsible for such beloved role-playing games as Xenosaga and Baten Kaitos. Currently, Monolith Soft is developing the upcoming action survival game Disaster: Day of Crisis for the Nintendo Wii.

As some of you have no doubt guessed, this new agreement could lead to a number of Nintendo-exclusive RPGs on the Wii and DS. No immediate plans were announced after the purchase, but having such a seasoned group of veterans in their employ certainly bodes well for the success of the purchase.

Source

‘Space Station Tycoon’ for the Nintendo Wii announced by Namco Bandai

Namco Bandai has announced that its Space Station Tycoon game title for the Nintendo Wii will be available in the summer of 2007.The game publishing company has also released screen shots of this game.

Space Station Tycoon follows the adventures of Shawn and his monkey companion Tam, through pirate-infested space, meteor fields, supernovas and more as they seek out fortune and of course fame.

Throughout Space Station Tycoon players will encounter over 30 strange-looking characters such as space pirates, starfish ninjas and mysterious voodoo-practicing chickens.Using the Nintendo Wii Remote, players will be able to create gravity points and interact with objects in the environments.

Space Station Tycoon has a number of different modes to play such as multi-player party mode, and co-op play.

Source

Capcom turns focus to three new titles for Wii

var requestedWidth = 0;

if(requestedWidth

THE NEW GENERATION of systems has been good to Capcom. In the past year, the Japanese company made a splash on the Xbox 360 with “Dead Rising” and “Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions.” On the Nintendo DS, it has published a cult hit in the “Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney” franchise.

With successes like that, what do you do for an encore?

At its gamers day last week at Broadway Studios in San Francisco, Capcom turned its focus to the Nintendo Wii with three new titles for the console.

After some amusing trailers, Mark Beaumont, an executive vice president, introduced “Project Treasure Island Z,” “Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles” and “Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition.”

Of the three, “Treasure Island Z” was the most-promising title. Producer Hironobu Takeshita said the developers “tried to be as innovative with the controls as Nintendo has been with the hardware.”

That mentality shines in a puzzle adventure in which you play a pirate wannabe named Zack, who stumbles upon the cursed skeleton of the famed Capt. Barbaros. The two strike a deal: Zack helps Barbaros find his missing bones and the young pirate will get a legendary ship in return.

The title has the feel of a Saturday-morning cartoon with its cell-shaded characters and rich colors. Players move Zack around by pointing and clicking on the screen, but aside from the exploration, the real draw of the game comes in how you use the Wii remote.

Players will have to come up with clever ways

GetAd(’tile’,'box’,'/bayarealiving_article’,”,’www.insidebayarea.com’,”,’null’,'null’);

to solve dozens of puzzles scattered throughout seven themed worlds. Is a door blocking the way? Turning the controller like a crank may help move it. Need a tree to create a bridge? Maybe turning an enemy into a saw would help? This seems like a game that rewards creative minds who see the Wii remote as a key, a lever or even, perhaps, a piccolo. As for “Umbrella Chronicles,” the title has some promise but also some pitfalls. In terms of style, the game is caught in a murky area between immersive innovation and stodgy convention. This is a title that can either be really good or bad.

Light gun gameplay is excellent in short bursts in titles such as “Rayman Raging Rabbids” but extending that experience over a couple of hours could be a practice in monotony if not done right.

That’s why pacing and fresh gameplay features will be vital in making “Umbrella Chronicles” better than your typical arcade shooter. Playing through the initial level, I found that the reloading motion was difficult to pull off. The ability to shoot chandeliers and candles were nice touches that altered the lighting and actually affected the gameplay.

Still, more needs to be done to make “Umbrella Chronicles” more than a clone of “The House of the Dead.” But if anyone can rebuild a genre, it’s Capcom. The company was successful in updating the 2-D side-scroller with “Viewtiful Joe” and brought the action game to 3-D with “Devil May Cry.”

Despite the funny trailer, “Resident Evil 4″ for the Wii was a bit of a letdown. The title is a port of a title that came out two years ago, and though there have been slight alterations in the upcoming version, this seems to be essentially the same game that was released on the PlayStation 2.

Players likely to get this title will be either the super hard-core “Resident Evil” fans, or the unfortunate gamer who has been in a coma the past three years.

The biggest difference in this title will be how the controls are adapted to the Wii. According to Capcom, players will point and shoot with the Wii remote as they play Leon Kennedy, a special agent assigned to rescue the president’s daughter, Ashley Graham. During other moments, they’ll have to shake the controller in some heart-stopping action sequences.

I wish that Capcom would have worked on something with more originality, but having “Resident Evil 4″ for the Wii is better than not having it at all, I suppose.

On the hand-held side, “Monster Hunter Freedom 2″ and a third “Phoenix Wright” were the most intriguing titles of the bunch.

Larger than your average role-playing game but smaller than your online titles such as “World of Warcraft,” “Monster Hunter” seems like a good fit for the PlayStation Portable. There’s plenty of customization in weapons and armor as players try to create a powerful character who can tackle more than 250 quests. The emphasis on multiplayer actually may be what makes this game a purchase.

As for “Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations,” the adventure game heads into its third outing with a case explaining the origin of Capcom’s favorite attorney. Expect more of the same, but if the writing is as good as the past two, it’ll probably be worth it.

The games have no concrete release dates, but some will be available this year.

Source

Nintendo: Wii gets an infection of Resident Evil

This year Wii is taking on a sinister twist as not one but two nail biting survival horror games from the highly popular Resident Evil series launch on the system. The first, Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition is a re-mastered version of the award winning game with all-new motion sensitive controls to add to the excitement.

Later in the year this will be joined by the all-new Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, a Wii gun shooting game spanning the rest of the series. Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles are developed by Capcom and will be distributed in Europe by Nintendo.

Originally launched on the Nintendo GameCube in 2005, Resident Evil 4 rapidly became one of the most highly acclaimed action titles of its generation winning the title of ‘Game of the Year’ at numerous award ceremonies. In the game, characters take on the role of special agent Leon, sent into Europe to find the president’s missing daughter. What he discovers is far more sinister than just a kidnapping - insane cannibals, mutated creatures and a sinister virus all lie in wait for our hero as he undertakes his mission.

Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition features the original exciting story and gameplay of the first game, but with the new and intuitive Wii controls you can’t help but feel that you are actually part of the action. Players navigate the plush and sinister locations with the Nunchuk, while aiming and firing their weapon or using their knife with the Wii Remote. On top of the game’s main mode, players can also take on the role of the mysterious Ada Wong with her story interacting with that of Leon throughout. Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition will launch for Wii across Europe on 29th June 2007.

Following hot on the heels of this all-time great is a new addition to the series. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles is a brand new title for Wii that allows players to gain a greater insight than ever before into the back story behind the outbreak. This action/shooter hybrid takes players to locations from Resident Evil 0, 1, 2 and 3 as well as new never-before-seen locations, such as Umbrella’s stronghold.

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles allows players to uncover a whole new realm of evil. The game features first-person light-gun style combat with interactive and exciting pathways and locations, a huge arsenal of weapons and all new blood curdling enemies which will have you jumping at every turn. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles spreads its way across Europe on Wii in 2007 - Nintendo.

Source