Join Derek and I as we discuss this week’s Nintendo headlines, answer reader mail, turn 200 episodes old, and celebrate Halloween with really awesome music.
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Glassless 3D is the big selling point for Nintendo’s upcoming 3DS, arriving in March. But Nintendo wants in on social gaming as well, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Nintendo says one of the new communication tools, StreetPass, finds and connects to a nearby 3DS machine even if the other party is a total stranger. The person doesn’t need to be using the 3DS at the time in order to wirelessly link up and share data with another 3DS machine in the vicinity using a Wi-Fi connection.
For example, Nintendo has showed a social network-like application called the StreetPass Plaza. On any given day, a 3DS owner may unknowingly cross paths with many other 3DS users. The virtual playpen displays a day’s encounters, each as an avatar with some basic but not too revealing information: the person’s screen name, the last game they played, when the “pass” took place and how many times the two have come across one another.
Problem is, the idea won’t work as well in the U.S. and Europe, because the population density is lower and public transportation is less frequently used than in Japan.
Sounds like a fun idea. But so did the original DS’s Tag Mode. So did GBA to GameCube connectivity. Think this has any legs, particularly outside of Japan and/or large metro areas?
Want to see the whiniest place on the internet? Drop by the Rock Band forums this week to witness the shrill cry of outraged fans discovering their favorite game’s become an entirely new beast. Comfort zones have been shattered. The familiar’s been bulldozed. Cash no longer exists, everything’s restructured and (shock) playing a real keyboard is haaaaaarrrrrrrrrd.
I’m siding with the optimistic voters: Rock Band 3 is incredible. It’s as fun-and-breezy or as back-breakingly demanding as you want it to be. Want to keep it a pure video game and play in the original five-button style? Click here. Want to take some classes and learn to play “Roundabout” on keyboard for real? Head this way.
Freaking thing includes the four original SNES remakes—which are awesome— a soundtrack CD, and an illustrated commemorative booklet, just like Japan. Following is the official press release:
Starting Dec. 12, the Super Mario All-Stars™ Limited Edition will be available for purchase while supplies last. This collectible package features four classic Mario™ games playable on the Wii™ system, a soundtrack CD and an illustrated commemorative booklet. Sure to be a sought-after item among holiday gift-seekers, Super Mario All-Stars will be offered at a suggested retail price of $29.99.
UPDATE: The December Nintendo Power reports the re-release will have “brighter and more detailed graphics,” in addition to nunchuck and motion controls. Sweet.
ORIGINAL (Jun. 28): Interplay today announced the re-release of MDK2 on WiiWare “this winter.”
Although much harder than the original, the sequel is just as fun.
Definitely a title you should keep on your radar, especially if you’ve never played the series.
This change your mind one way or another? Epic Mickey arrives Nov. 30 on Wii.
Derek and I discussed this on last week’s podcast. Without completing the game, I’d say it’s the third best Kirby game ever. Right on the heels of Kirby’s Adventure, but not quite as innovative as Canvas Curse.
Still, the interplay between graphics and gameplay is smile-inducing, more than enough to give it the bronze medal. Compared to other games in the franchise, how would you rank Epic Yarn?
Bit.Trip Fate debuted on WiiWare yesterday. It plays like an awesome rails-shooter-shmup hybrid. Did you get it? Is this the hardest Bit.Trip yet?
PRESS RELEASE — Every day since the Wii™ system launched in November 2006, Nintendo has sold an average of 46,000 Wii Remote™ controllers in the United States. That’s a lot of people playing – and a lot of people playing together. Nintendo’s motion-controlled video games continue to create new players every day. People play Wii to try new experiences not available on other systems, including games like Wii Sports Resort™, Super Mario Galaxy™ 2 and Metroid™: Other M. Wii makes games more active, but it also makes them more social. Moms and dads play with their kids, and even grandma and grandpa join in. (more…)
PC World reports, via NeoGAF: “IBM is working with gaming machine vendors including Nintendo and Sony, said Jai Menon, CTO of IBM’s Systems and Technology Group, during an interview Thursday. ‘We’re working with all of the game folks to provide our capabilities into those next-generation machines,’ he said.”
As a reminder, IBM supplied Nintendo with processors for both the GameCube and Wii. As NeoGAF notes, however, it sounds as though IBM is still in the bidding process with Nintendo, as opposed to having secured the contract, which would imply upcoming production.
Translation: Nintendo is obviously planning its next console, but it’s highly unlikely it’ll be ready within the next year or so. You know, console shelf life being lengthened and all that.
