Nintendo and Gaming News Weekly Recap [Apr. 6th

Nintendo and Gaming News Weekly Recap [Apr. 6th - Apr. 10th]

April 10th, 2009 by carmen · 1 Comment

My take on the this week’s most popular gaming news stories.

1. Wii Sports/Wii MotionPlus Arriving Stateside in July
The News: After much speculation, Nintendo has finally confirmed that Wii Sports and the Wiimote accessory, Wii MotionPlus, will be in stores this summer. There are no details yet on whether the game and the accessory will be sold together.

Carmen’s Take: I can’t wait to see how Wii MotionPlus enhances gameplay in Wii Sports and Tiger Wood’s PGA Tour 10, although there have been reports that the accessory is overly responsive.

More info here.

2. Will Wright Leaves EA

The News: Game Designer, Will Wright, will be leaving EA after 12 years to pursue projects at the Stupid Fun Club, a think tank he formed back in 2001. There are no hard feelings on both sides, as EA and Will Wright plan to partner on future projects.

Carmen’s Take: Since the Stupid Fun Club focuses on more than just video games, it’ll be very interesting to see what kind of products emerge. I imagine that we will see more integrated products across multiple platforms (video, games, web). Gaming is now pretty much every where, from the back of the airplane seat to your mobile phone, can’t wait to see what properties emerge from the Stupid Fun Club.

More info here.

3. Strong Bad’s WiiWare Sales Double

The News: Sales of Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People have more than doubled since Nintendo’s new SD storage system was implemented. The episodic video game was originally released in August 2008.

Carmen’s Take: This is good news for both Nintendo and all game developers. It’s not the storage solution that developers and gamers hoped for, but for now it seems like a good short term fix until Wii version 2.

More info here.

4. DSi sells 600,000 units total in America and Europe

The News: The DSi launch was a huge success, almost as big as the iPhone 3g without the long lines and horrific set-up process.

Carmen’s Take: Even though the DSi lost the GBA slot, the enhancements to the 3rd DS iteration, including the functionality and design upgrades, two cameras and the new DSi Shop channel, got gamers’ attention. I expect the DSi will reach 2 Million units sold if not more by the end of 2009.

More info here.

5. Japan will see video on the Wii and DS very soon

The News: Nintendo President Iwata Satoru talked to the Wall Street Journal about Nintendo’s upcoming video service in Japan. Although details are still limited, Iwata stated that it will be advertising supported and the video could be downloaded on the Wii and transfered to a connected DS system.

Carmen’s Take: This is a good move for Nintendo, although a little late compared to its competitors. It’ll be interesting to see how it is implemented and delivered. I’m not interested in video on my Wii until I can play Nintendo games in HD.

More info here.

6. WiiSpray

The News: Martin Lihs shows us that he can tag virtual walls with a hacked wiimote. Watch the video below.

Carmen’s Take: Once again, I am amazed at all the awesome Wiimote hacks people have come up with. It’s very cool that the technology behind the Wii has opened itself up to innovation beyond gaming.

More info here.

7. GameStop Selling Used Games As New

The News: The FTC is investigating GameStop for allegedly lending new games to employees then repackaging and selling the games as new.

Carmen’s Take: Do we really need another reason not to shop at GameStop? They are already known to charge more for new releases than their competitors, now this? I buy most of my games on Amazon, unless I absolutely can’t wait.

More info here.

8. Wii in a “unhealthy situation” in Japan

The News: Wii sales have declined in Japan and Nintendo is hoping that the upcoming Wii Sports Resort release will reignite interest in the console. Iwata says cutting the price is out of the question.

Carmen’s Take: It is possible that the novelty has worn off in Japan. I really think the only way to make a comeback is to start working on Wii HD, otherwise we will start to see a similar decline in demand the US as well.

More info here.

9. Nintendo’s Cammie Dunaway will return to E3.

The News: She won’t be snowboarding this year “just talking games”. Great, but if you are going to give us a reason to get pumped for E3 couldn’t you say something a little more exciting? Watch video below:

Carmen’s Take: On my wish list for E3: a new Mario game, balance board games, Wii Speak compatible games.

10. Wii console usage not as strong as its competitors
The News: The Nielsen Company released a exhaustive report on console usage (games and music played, videos watch, etc.) across all demographics. The report shows that in January 09 the Wii is second only to the PS2 in console usage.

Carmen’s Take: I’m not too surprised by the report, I have always thought of the Wii as my social game console. I can’t watch movies on it and I rather surf the web on a computer. I have a PS3, but not too many games for it and I actually watch more movies on it than play games. At the moment my DS is getting most of my game time, as I am currently obsessed with Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia.

Read the full report here.