By David Richards | Wednesday | 27/05/2009
In an effort to retain the momentum that has seen Nintendo become the most profitable games Company in the world the Japanese Company is now set to cut deals with third party manufacturers to make combat and sporting games for the Wii platform.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal the President of Nintendo’s US operation, Reggie Fils-Aime said that the number of games made by third party manufacturers could be as high as 70% of the available portfolio for the highly popular Nintendo Wii.

He also said Nintendo doesn’t plan to cut the price of the Wii, whose current price hasn’t changed since its debut. “Price cuts are a short-term incentive,” he said. “In the long run, you need software to excite people.”

The #1 selling game on the Wii platform is Wii Play which has sold over 10 million units. More than 50 million Wii consoles have been sold since being launched two years ago.

Wii Play has sold more than three times as many units as the top game by an outside publisher, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock by Activision Blizzard, which has sold 2.9 million copies, according to market research firm NPD Group.
The WSJ said that as part of that effort, Nintendo is taking an unusual step in allowing videogame publisher Electronic Arts Inc. to release two sports games that take advantage of a brand new hardware accessory more than a month before Nintendo’s own marquee game is released.

EA plans to sell Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 packaged with the Wii MotionPlus, an attachment for the Wii’s wireless controller that makes it more sensitive to movement. In Europe, EA also plans to sell a second game, Grand Slam Tennis.
Both EA games will launch in early June, ahead of Nintendo’s own game for the attachment, Wii Sports Resort, which will debut in late July. “We really liked what we could get from the MotionPlus,” said EA’s chief executive John Riccitiello.

see: www.wsj.com

Technorati Tags: nintendo wii, Nintendo Wii Competitions, wii

Filed under Gaming Tags: EA, electrinic arts, motionplus, Nintendo, Nintendo Wii, Wii, Wii MotionPlus

Wii MotionPlus is Nintendo’s improved motion sensing technology for the Nintendo Wii, promising to make the WiiMote more sensitive and accurate. Now Electronic Arts has released details of the first games that will be able to take advantage of the new kit. Want to know which arm-waving titles are on the way? All the details after the break!Wii MotionPlus is a plug-in attachment for the standard WiiMote that Nintendo announced at last year’s E3. The Wii MotionPlus adds a truckload of extra sensors to allow the device to track much smaller and more intricate movements.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis are the first two games set to Benefit from Wii MotionPlus controls. “With the new Wii MotionPlus, slicing a winner on Centre Court at Wimbledon or dropping an 8 iron pin high on No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass have never felt better,” waffled EA Sports President Peter Moore.

The first two Wii MotionPlus will be followed by five more titles, including EA Sports Active (which sounds a bit Wii Fit to us) that will be released in May. The other four titles are still in development and no details of content or timing have yet been confirmed.

You can a video of the Wii MotionPlus controler in action in our first look at Wii Sports Resort.

Technorati Tags: Nintendo Wii Competitions, wii, Wii MotionPlus, Wii MotionPlus games

PC edition of Criterion Games’ demolition-enthused racer highlights week of sparse releases; My World, My Way needles DS.

The first full week of February 2008 was a particularly strong one for the gaming industry as it ushered in the release of such top-name games as Devil May Cry 4, Turok, Culdcept Saga, Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles, and Sins of a Solar Empire. Gamers hoping for a repeat performance this year are, unfortunately, in for a disappointment.

Headlining this week of sparse releases is Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box, the long-awaited PC edition of Criterion Games’ highly regarded Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 racer. The Ultimate Box includes all previously released game updates made to the console editions, which debuted in January 2008. The PC game also includes the Party Pack, which adds a variety of multiplayer-centric minigame challenges, brighter visuals, and a race-restart option. Xbox 360 and PS3 gamers can download the Party Pack for a fee through Xbox Live and PlayStation Network beginning February 5.

One other retail release worth a mention this week is My World, My Way for the DS. Created by Japanese game maker Global A (Master of the Monster Lair) and delivered to the US by way of Atlus, My World, My Way is a decidedly female-oriented role-playing game that follows the travails of a petulant princess on her quest to find a boyfriend that has a "level 99 in handsomeness." For more on the off-kilter game, check out GameSpot’s recent hands-on with My World, My Way.

Tozai Games and Microsoft are teaming this week to release R-Type Dimensions for Xbox Live Arcade. The classic 2D shoot-’em-up has been updated with 3D graphics, and will be available this Wednesday for 1,200 Microsoft points ($10).

Nintendo’s Wii has a trio of new games coming to its respective online platforms this week. For WiiWare, Hudson has delivered Snowboard Riot, an action racer where gamers attempt to be the first to reach the bottom of a hill while fending off competitors with a range of power-ups. The game accommodates up to four players, features support for the Wii Balance Board, and will cost 1,000 Wii points ($10).

The WiiWare Channel will also see the release of Lonpos, a logic-based puzzle game where players must use a variety of puzzle pieces to perfectly fill a rectangular playing field. The game features four-way multiplayer and costs 800 Wii points ($8). Lastly, Sega’s Master System classic Sonic Chaos will be added to the Virtual Console this week for 500 Wii points ($5).

For a full listing of the week’s games, check out GameSpot’s New Releases page. Check back later today for a video trailer of this week’s releases.

Technorati Tags: nintendo wii, Nintendo Wii Competitions, wii

When I first saw this game I thought it might be boring, but there are enough different fish, challenges and places to see to keep it interesting. That said, I would rate it as primarily a family game, a great way for kids and parents or grandparents to share some fun family time together. It’s not too difficult for kids maybe 5 or 6 and up, and not too childish for an adult to enjoy. There is a fair amount of reading in the beginning in the form of the captain giving instructions on how to do the fishing maneuvers and such, but this could be explained to a child and there are enough onscreen symbols once they start playing to understand the game play.

If you enjoy fishing, I think you’ll get a kick out of this. The graphics are excellent as Wii games go and you don’t get stuck fishing in one place on a pier somewhere. There are 40 different locations, in 7 regions of the world, Europe, Japan, South America, Africa, Australia and more. Imagine deep sea trolling in Hawaii, or fishing in a fountain in Paris. You start off in Japan and open locations as the game goes on. The scenery and fishing spots are quite stunning. They did a good job on this game. The characters are cartooney and you get a few choices of boy or girl characters. You even get to pick a dog or cat to keep you company and accompany you on your travels. (The cat gets really excited when you hook a fish!)

The controls are about as realistic as you can get using a wiimote and nunchuck. You press the B button on the wiimote and forward casting off motion to cast your line into the water where the fish are. It takes a good hard motion to cast it a great distance. Little effort won’t get you far enough out into the water to find any fish. There’s a meter on the screen to show you how far out you’ve cast the line. You reel them in by rotating the nunchuck just as you would a fishing reel. The controls are very responsive and make good use of the Wii’s capabilities. They’re also very natural and intuitive. The tutorial when you first run the game goes pretty quickly and shows you how to do everything such as casting, hooking the fish, fighting and landing him. It’s not as easy as it sounds when you first try (unless you’re already a fisherman maybe) and I had quite a few lines break or fish escape before I finally landed one. And that was only a small fish. I think it could turn out to be a real adventure trying to bring in a big struggling fish.

There are over 200 different fish and the captain of the ship tallies up what you’ve caught for the day and you can keep track of the different types of fish you’ve caught in a journal. You get points and are striving to become an international fishing master.

This is also a game that you can play online and fish with people all over the world trying to be the best. Imagine fishing with your friends in other parts of the country or grandkids who live far away. Internet hook-up is easy and it opens a world of possibilities.

Technorati Tags: Nintendo Wii Competitions, wii fishing game, wii rock band

The internet channel is one that many people will get plenty of use out of. You can surf the internet for Nintendo related stories and products. You can also look at anything you desire. Some people have the misconception that they will only be linked to the sites that have Nintendo associated with them. However, that is simply not the case at all.

With the first release of the Wii many consumers weren’t really happy with how all this worked though. Sure, they liked being able to access the internet from their Wii but it was harder than doing so from their home computer. The screen on the TV was used to type in what you wanted to search for.

One feature that they really did like was the parental controls. This way children were only able to access certain sites and to connect with approved individuals to play games against on the internet. This makes sense as parents should always be monitoring what their children are accessing on the internet.

One of the accessories that Nintendo now offers that makes it much easier to use is the USB keyboard. You can plug it right into the console and type on it just like you would with your computer. This can be purchased for about $40 so it is quite a good investment. There is no limit to what you can do with this set up either. It even allows you to copy and paste links so that you don’t have to type them in. With so many characters mistakes can easily happen if you are doing it that way.

Do you need to send someone an email? Do you need to research something online? There is no difference between this and using your home computer. How many times have you needed to use it and someone else in the family is already sitting in front of it? Having such a set up can definitely take that problem out of the equation. Families seem to depend on the internet more and more these days.

They use it for both fun and for pleasure. Nintendo has certainly gone out of their way to put technology to use with this feature. It is certainly something you won’t find with the other home gaming consoles out there. You can be sure this is one feature that they will continue to update as necessary as well.

If you have an older version of the Internet Channel for your Wii you can purchase the upgraded version online for a very low price. You can access it using the Wii Shopping Channel. This is definitely one feature that you will get plenty of use out of all the time. You can’t find a quality computer for $250 but you can have the full Nintendo Wii gaming functions as well as the internet. That seems like quite a good investment to me!

Article Written By J. Foley

Technorati Tags: wii channel for internet, wii games