Wii Rally

Bashcraft over at Kotaku is reporting that Nintendo will have a full blown booth at this years TGS (Tokyo Game Show). Nintendo has always had a presence at the show but this will be the first time where they will have booth space set up. Nintendo normally saves it’s budget for the other industry trade shows like CES, E3, or Nintendo’s own exposition Space World but since E3 has been scaled down this year I guess Nintendo had some extra money and no where to spend it so they decided to up the ante at TGS.

Well as always I like to play the speculation game here at Wii Rally. So what big announcement(s) do you think Nintendo will make as the summers trade show season gets underway next month. New Zelda? Online play? How about a new and exciting 1st party IP? Who knows? All I know is that with the warm weather comes the summer game drought which according to Reggie shouldn’t happen. Maybe that’s why the latest virtual console release have been less than drool worthy. Nintendo could be saving the big dogs for when they have no new games coming. Any thoughts?

A couple of former EA Canada employees have started up their own development firm called Jet Black Games to focus on Nintendo Wii and DS development. EA Canada which is known for their stellar work on the popular EA sports titles except Madden of course. Is where these developers got their stripes before heading out on their own.

But why focus on Nintendo Wii and DS game development? Roger Freddi Co-Founder and CEO of Jet Black Games explains.

“Both the Nintendo DS and Wiis WiFi capabilities provide an advanced medium for Jet Black to bring already popular franchises to an even broader worldwide audience.”

Jet Black is going to have their work cut out for them seeing as how Nintendo isn’t really ready to share Wii Online game secrets with 3rd party developers yet. Now lets just hope they come up with something a little better than Need for Speed Carbon.

A nice little story is floating around the inter-tubes. According to Cubed3 and the Tanooki Nintendo is increasing Wii unit production. Most likely in response to consumer demand. It seems to me that since Nintendo was so confident in their little white consoles they should have had large production numbers from the get go. Then again this is an international business with different market trends so you really have to be careful how much you spend on initial production and most companies know you can’t bank on hype and brand integrity alone.

What this means for everyone out there in video game land is that it may soon be easier for the average consumer be able to find a console without too much effort. The looming question that remains is “did Nintendo intentionally keep their supply short to increase consumer demand?” the answer is of course kept behind the closed doors of Nintendo Co.

One of the features of the Wii I like to hold over the heads of my Xbox 360 counterparts is that Virtual Console updates normally feature more than one title per week often 2 or 3. The Xbox Live Arcade usually only gets 1 title a week, this week the Virtual Console breaks the mold. This week Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire for the SNES was released but why not Romance of the Three Kingdoms V or IX what about II or even VII? Seeing as how developer Koei Co. has made 9 games in the RTK series talk about milking a series for all it’s worth. Normally the honor of being a lone VC release is reserved for 1st party big name titles like Zelda: Ocarina of Time and its ilk but I guess some random game in a never ending series buy a lackluster developer is just as good.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire (SNES, 800 Wii Points)

I can only assume that a good percentage of Wii owners out there in Nintendo land have taken the time to download the “free trial” version of the Wii Opera browser. The application has been available since December and web hounds have been itching to get their hands on the full version of the Opera software. That time is fast approaching.

In a press release last week Nintendo announced that the full version is coming sometime in April and will remain free until June when Nintendo will slap a 500 Wii Points price tag on the software. My understanding is that if you have taken the time to use the “free trial” version then you will be able to update to the full version without asking your girlfriend for her credit card number to snag some Wii Points.

Nintendo is promising the following features will be integrated into the full version of the Opera browser.

From the Nintendo Press Release

improved zooming and scrolling

an improved zoomed font

shortened startup times

quicker access to “favorites”

an ability to hide the toolbar

buttons that will instantly type common preset letters, such as “www” or “.com”

Although any kind of info on new software is important this latest press release fails to address some of my specific concerns specifically what kind of Flash players will be compatible with the full version. With the “free trail” version you can view or use any website that supports Flash 8 or lower but as the more and more sites upgrade to Flash 9 you’ll start finding more and more websites failing to display. Don’t worry I think YouTube and GameTrailers are still safe but I have had a couple problems with GameVideos but then again I get problems every time with GameVideos even on my PC.

I don’t know about the rest of you but the Wii Internet Channel gets a fair amount of play on my Wii. I’m of course a fan of the Viidelectrix and other flash based sites. Gmail works just fine and as always Wii Rally is fully functional when viewed with the Wii browser.

Source: Nintendo
Comic from Opera

Everyone has April 9th Marked down on their calender right? Okay maybe just me but mind you I have been waiting long time to play me some SPM. Today I’m sharing some recent gameplay videos that came out of last week’s GDC.

The first is the official trailer with your token people on the couch.

Official Trailer

The second video really shows how you will be switching perspective quite activity during the game. No spoilers so enjoy!

Stage 1-2 gameplay

Hit the jump to play the Bonus Round (more…)

For the Second Time

Nintendo and Gamespy have announced a new addition to their ongoing partnership today. According to a press release Nintendo will be working closely with Gamespy to provide a more enriched online experience for the Nintendo Wii. Which doesn’t surprise me anyway due to the fact that the Wii seems to be light years behind the online capabilities of it’s current console brethren. This could mean an end to the annoying friend codes Nintendo seems to like so much.

As previously reported the first game to use this new functionality will be Pokémon: Battle Revolution which launches here in North America on June 25th. Pokémon: BR will also be first game to support some type of Wii-DS connectivity.

Aside from the fact that GameSpy is owned by the evil media empire known as NewsCorp. (Damn you Murdoc!) This is reletivly good news for Wii gamers the world over who will soon be able to play with each other with ease. Wait! That doesn’t sound right.

GDC (Game Developers Conference) is going on as we speak so what better theme for this week Video Thursday than a collection of Wii videos coming out of this years conference.

First up is a tutorial/developer walkthrough of the highly anticipated Super Paper Mario due to hit stores on April 9th.

The second video is a demo of the Chariot Escape scene from Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia: Rival Swords for the Wii.

As always hit the jump for this weeks bonus round (more…)

This month’s EGM has a nice little exclusive announcement for all you SquNix fans out there. Apparently Mario and his band of contemporaries will join Sora, Mickey and the rest of Kingdom Hearts crew for an all new adventure on the Wii. No surprises here after seeing the success of the first 3 Kingdom Hearts adventures. Even the card based Chain of Memories on the GBA was pretty decent.

The gameplay will most likely be very similar to that found in Twilight Princess. It’s so nice to see Square Enix and Nintendo working together again could this mean that there is a possibility to the long awaited sequel to Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars? I might just crap my pants for that one.

EGM is reporting in their April 2007 issue that gamers will not see the debut of the popular Mario Party series today like originally reported. Instead the guys at EGM say that Mario Party is now slated for a summer launch. Nintendo’s website confirms that the release date has been changed to Q2 07.

No reasons for the delay are given which allows writers like me to throw fuel on the speculation fires. It is a definite possibility that Nintendo has delayed the shipping of the title so that they can add some form of online play which would make the game infinitely more fun.

Like any good party it’s always cool to be fashionably late.

The sun beats down on my back as I crawl forward in search of refreshment. “Water? Water!” I yell “Water and games, will this drought never end?” But wait as I look out into the horizon I see it. Relief from this crazy drought we have been stuck in since January. Get ready for a flood here come the games of March.

Getting serious now. Reggie once promised us that we would see no game drought for the Wii in 2007. Well what do you call the last 2 months big man? Sure there’s been some hotness on the virtual console and both Sonic and Wario have made their debut on the Wii but still there hasn’t been that much to be excited about. Hopefully March will change that with 8 new Wii games set to make Wii owners the busiest they’ve been since Christmas.

March will see the release of some original content along with a couple of shoe-horned “Wii-makes”. It would seem that almost every major publisher has a game coming out for the Wii in March. Nintendo kicks off the party right at the beginning with the release of the anticipated release of Mario Marty 8. You know what they say March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, well the same is true for games. The month of march starts strong but then kind of peters out at the end.

Who will rule the charts Ubisoft’s TMNT? EA’s Tiger Woods PGA Tour ‘07? or Hudson’s Wing Island? We shall see.

Hit the jump for the complete list of Wii games launching in March. (more…)

I noticed something interesting about the Wii Shop channel today.

Once you have purchased a Virtual Console game from the Wii shop channel you can no longer see the price. If you view the listing for a Virtual Console game after you have purchased it in the area that once displayed the price (in Wii Points) the words “downloaded” appear. I know this is nothing new but I recently pondered the implication of such a feature. Yes it’s good to see what you have already downloaded so as to prevent repeat downloads but what is stopping Nintendo from changing the prices of Virtual Console games later on?

Look at it this way. You download Donkey Kong for the NES for 500 Wii points you play it and enjoy it. Then 6 months later Nintendo changes the price to 250 Wii points. But you will never know because as far as you know it’s “downloaded”. So you go through life wondering why people are snickering at you behind your back. All because you paid 5 bucks for 3 stages of Donkey Kong, what’s up with that anyway.

I’ll give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt though. I have faith that big “N” wouldn’t do business in such a sneaky underhanded way but then again EA was founded on similar principals. Just something to think about before you blow all those Wii points on something you might regret later.

Aside: Stupid Donkey Kong I swear there was more than 3 stages back in 1983.

Cue the fanfare lay out the red carpet The Legend of Zelda hit the NA VC today. To no surprise since Nintendo released a hype garnering press release on the 23rd. It will make a very nice addition to any collection which already contains Mario Bros.
Before you run to the Wii Shop channel and spend that 1000 Wii points read this description of Chew Man Fu.

A novel action-puzzle game set in the sacred towers taken over by the evil sorcerer, Chew Man Fu. It’s up to an apprentice female monk to free the towers and lift Chew’s curse to bring peace and fried rice back to the land once ruled by the Egg Roll Dynasty. The rules are simple. The objective is to clear each round by pushing or pulling four colored orbs onto their matching colored tiles. Beware the sorcerer’s minions in the tower who stand in the way. Players kick the orbs to take enemies out or to break down walls. They must overcome the obstacles and place the orbs on their respective tiles. Chew Man Fu also features the two-player Kick Ball minigame, as well as an Edit Mode for creating unique stages. The fun is endless.

A kickball mini game and a level editor? The fun really is endless.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64 1000 Wii Points)
Bio-Hazard Battle (Genesis, 800 Wii Points)
Chew Man Fu (TG16, 600 Wii Points)

It’s time for another Wiikend wrap up! (Applause)

A couple tidbits for you this weekend. First you may or may not have heard about the possibility of NeoGeo games coming to the Wii’s Virtual Console. According to CVG (Computer Video Games) Nintendo of Japan has confirmed they will be releasing an update to the Virtual Console allowing gamers to play NeoGeo and MSX games. Nintendo wouldn’t tell CVG whether Europe or North America would seeing this update. Now I’ve never owned a NeoGeo or an MSX but the more the merrier.

On to the wrap!

Monday
NA VC Update 02/19/07

Tuesday
Wii Charging Station by Thrustmaster

Wednesday
Wii Wish: Rocket Jockey

Thursday
Makin’ Miis
Video Thursday: Sonic Edition

Feature Friday
European VC Update 02/23/07
WiiMote != Lightsaber

I told everyone that last week with the release of DK Country here in NA I wasn’t jealous of the Euro market anymore. Well my eyes turned green again this week with the latest Euro VC update.

Kid Icarus (NES, 500 Wii points)

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64, 1000 Wii points)

It is widely known throughout the games industry that the market most commonly screwed on prices, release dates and content is Europe. I guess that Nintendo is trying to make amends by giving them access to one of the most widely anticipated VC games, Ocarina of Time.

What interests me is not that the game is available in Europe but that it only costs 1000 Wii points not the previously rumored 1200 Wii points. Will we see a change in the price point for the NA release of the game on the VC? That remains to be seen but I sincerely hope not. Every one’s used to getting screwed by Msoft, Sony, EA et.al but when Nintendo screws you it hurts….deep down inside.

So will we finaly see OoT hit the NA market with the coming monday update? Check back on Monday to find out.