cas-core

Nintendo and its ingenious plan to gimp online gaming

Nintendo and its approach to online gaming has been pretty perplexing to guys like us, huh? Friend Codes head us off at every pass like some small town sheriff drunk with power; servers groan and creak when we attempt to Brawl with friends and strangers alike; and don’t get us started on trying to chat in-game, right? Most of us are optimists, I’d like to think, and deep down we give N...

Wii controller busting bombs in war zones

The U.S. military has been hard at work adapting Nintendo’s Wiimote for use in a new explosives-disposal robot, says a report in the Metro.co.uk (via Game|Life). The vehicle, called “Packbot,” can first and foremost defuse and dispose of bombs and mines, but the little gunslinging robot is also capable of laying down some lead, courtesy of a high-powered machine gun affixed to it...

Report: Casual games are exploding

New research from Interpret posted over at Next Generation today talks of a casual games love explosion that’s happened in recent months. It’s a lengthy read, but it bodes well for established services like Xbox Live Arcade and upcoming ones like the WiiWare service from Nintendo. A snippet: “Interpret found that, during 2007, casual games reached over 145 million people aged 12-...

Video games in 2008: It’s great to be a gamer

The game industry is, undeniably, already well on its way into a new era. It is, like a certain presidential candidate, change we can believe in. It is both an exciting time (as a player) and an uncertain time (as a developer). But it is also a highly lucrative time, as is usually the case when truly disruptive trends begin to come to a head (see also, iPod). Hardware and software sales continue t...

Carnival Games goes platinum

VG Chartz is reporting Carnival Games has surpassed one million copies sold worldwide. Released in Aug. 2007, the exclusive Wii minigame collection has since exceeded virtually all sales expectations despite receiving mediocre review scores. Carnival Games is currently averaging an aggregate score of 56 on Metacritic. Carnival Games was developed by Washington-based Cat Daddy Games, a studio prima...

Nintendo gives away cruise to promote Endless Ocean

Nintendo’s Endless Oceanâ„¢ game for Wiiâ„¢ takes users on a virtual undersea trip to explore deep-sea wrecks and encounter more than 230 different animal species. Players of all abilities explore at their own pace as they swim through coral reefs, explore ancient shipwrecks, meet local wildlife and search for sunken treasure. In the spirit of the game’s themes of fun and exploration, ...

Nintendo’s love for shallow games is skin deep

“If all our games mirror games like Wii Sports or Wii Fit, our gamers would soon grow bored,” assured Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, in a recent interview published to Wii.com. I think conventional gamers appreciate quality mini-games from time to time. I know I do. Hopefully Iwata’s statement can soothe any feelings of alienation that Nintendo will completely turn their back o...

Casual, hardcore and the significance of 1/22

While plodding past towering white curtains and glaring at dangling chandeliers of Mii characters, something finally snapped inside of Jem Alexander. As the Joystiq writer emerged from the ivory-coated Nintendo booth at Leipzig last August, the frustration boiled over. “While Microsoft and Sony both held press conferences during the Leipzig Games Convention, Nintendo decided to take a more p...

Nintendo’s Wii software sales are No. 1 for December

Is the tide turning? Was I actually right for once with one of my now infamous pro-Nintendo Infendo rants? I only ask because this morning I read something that was borderline Bible end-of-the-world Revelations territory: Wii software sales for December were officially higher than the market leader, Xbox 360. This spectacular feat actually occurred last month in the wake of the annual video game s...

Celda figures extend your Phantom Hourglass experience

While David and Blake dissect the best and worst that Nintendo systems had to offer this year, I thought I’d do what I do best and contibute absolutely nothing to the conversation. Instead, look at these little plastic figures modeled after characters from the Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass! At $3 a pop from Play-Asia, these little ditties are a steal for the import happy, and allow you...

I like mini games — there I said it.

When Ninja Reflex was announced yesterday for Wii and DS, I was excited with the prospects — a game that combines my love of ninjas and the chance to enhance my reflexes. Yes, I’m easily amused (though I only expect this to be a fun diversion when it’s released in March). Oh, it doesn’t sound glamorous by any stretch of the imagination, and it doesn’t contain a suffix...

Open Letter to Nintendo: Revive the Player’s Forum

There’s word today that Nintendo will update a Nintendo 64 game on the Virtual Console with some modern day features. Over at Wired’s Game|Life, Chris Kohler reports that Pokemon Snap, due out soon for the VC, will come complete with some Wii-specific content, including the ability to send snapshots of your little monster things to friends. Sounds exciting right? Right?! No, of course ...