Nintendo WFC Online Activity - Week ending June 3rd:

1. Pokémon Diamond - 1,574,962 connections
2. Pokémon Pearl - 1,076,439 connections
3. Mario Strikers Charged Football - 490,130 connections
4. Animal Crossing: Wild World - 396,816 connections
5. Mario Kart DS - 310,590 connections
6. Metroid Prime Hunters - 215,103 connections
7. Jump! Ultimate Stars - 124,141 connections
8. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker - 114,609 connections
9. Tetris DS - 65,501 connections
10. Pokémon Battle Revolution - 50,815 connections

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More About: Nintendo, Online Activity

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Reggie had an interview with USA Today about the future of the Nintendo Wii. You can read the interview below

Q: What made Nintendo try to do something dramatically different with the Wii?

A: Our focus is interactive game play, a whole new way to play, that puts fun back into this business. It allows everybody to pick up and play and isn’t focused on the core gamer.

Q: The Wii seems to emphasize the controller, not heavy attention on graphics. Is that by design?

A: That is exactly by design. Our visuals for Wii will look fantastic, but in the end, prettier pictures will not bring new gamers and casual gamers into this industry. It has to be about the ability to pick up a controller, not be intimidated, and have fun immediately. The trick is being able to do that, not only with the new casual gamer, but do it in a way that the core gamer gets excited as well.

Q: Microsoft has made the comment that people can buy an Xbox 360 and Wii for about the same price as a PlayStation 3. Would you mind terribly if that happened?

A: I’d much rather have the consumer buy a Wii, some accessories, and a ton of games, vs. buying any of my competitor’s products.

Q: A few years ago, Nintendo made a conscious decision to lie low when Microsoft introduced Xbox Live and began promoting its subscription online gaming service. In retrospect, does that look like a good decision?

A: I wasn’t here. What I can tell you is the way we’ve approached online play now is really with a view to the masses. With Nintendo DS (a dual-screen handheld player), for example, we offer free Internet play in a wide-ranging series of games. Our focus is getting as many consumers to enjoy that online experience as possible. And we’ve done that.

Q: You’re not pursuing a subscription model?

A: We view online gaming as essentially an enhanced way to enjoy the gaming experience and drive more sales of hardware and software.

Q: How do you extend your online strategy to Wii?

A: It’s the same premise. We will offer online-enabled games that the consumers will not have to pay a subscription fee for. They’ll be able to enjoy that right out of the box. The Wii console is going to be Wi-Fi enabled, so essentially, you’ll be able to plug it in and go. It won’t have hidden fees or costs.

Q: What is your plan for getting folks who aren’t normally interested in video games to try the Wii?

A: We need to get the consumer to admire what we’ve done. We need them to say to themselves, “Wow, this new Wii console by Nintendo is really interesting!” And they need to try it. They need to get bought into the proposition.

Q: Your background is in marketing. Without divulging competitive secrets, can you characterize your marketing plan?

A: It’s going to be massive amounts of hands-on activity, as well as showcasing exactly how Wii games are different. We’re going to create advocacy. We’re going to make it so that everyone who tries the Wii experience talks to their friends and neighbors. It’s going to be a really provocative sight to be seeing teens and 20-year-olds and 40-year-olds and 50-year-olds talking about how different this experience is.

Q: What can you tell us about timing and price?

A: We’re well on our way to sharing all of that information with our retailers and our licensees. We’ll be sharing that information publicly later on.

Q: Can the Wii take Nintendo back to the top of the mountain?

A: Our goal is to have as many teens and young adults as we have 40-plus-year-olds excited about the platform. We’re trying to expand this business here in the U.S in a way that it really hasn’t been expanded … for the health of this industry.

Q: Sounds like you’re more focused on new customers and not necessarily taking share from the other guys.

A: The interesting thing is if you do expand the market, you do both. You grow the category, but you’ll also dramatically increase your market share. As an example, Nintendo DS in Japan outsells all of our competitors by a factor of five to one. We are so far in advance of our handheld competitors that they’re not even on the map. That’s all based on a market expansion strategy. And that’s what we’re looking to do with home consoles.

Q: How do you handicap your competitors; what worries you most about them?

A: Our competitors are both going down the same path. Both believe that more and more performance with a higher and higher price tag are their keys to success. So what do I see? I think our two competitors will trade share between them, while we go off and grab share in a completely different way.

More About: Reggie, USA Today, Nintendo Wii

United States patent (7056217) filed by Nintendo states the following:

Messaging service for video game systems with buddy list that displays game being played

A messaging system includes a web server computer and at least two video game systems. Each game system is configured to connect to the web server computer via the Internet and to communicate status data indicative of an activity engaged in by a user thereof. The web server computer generates a session file indicative of user status and the status of each of two or persons on a buddy list of the user.

Nothing real ground breaking, but shows that Nintendo does in fact have an online gameplan with the Wii. Though the Gamecube had online support, it was never wildly accepted since it launched well after the systems release.

source: nintendo Central

More About: Nintendo, Messaging service, video game, Wii

“The Wii game console will take advantage of the most popular wireless technologies to deliver an advanced user experience that no other competitive console can match”

“Wii(TM) game console from Nintendo will include Broadcom(R) Bluetooth(R) and Wi-Fi(R) technologies”

Press

 10 May 2006 12:01 GMT PRESS RELEASE: Broadcom Advances the Wireless Gaming Experience With Bluetooth(R) and Wi-Fi(R) Technologies Integrated Into Nintendo’s Wii(TM) Game Console

Copyright © 2006, Dow Jones Newswires

IRVINE, Calif., May 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced that the Wii(TM) game console from Nintendo will include Broadcom(R) Bluetooth(R) and Wi-Fi(R) technologies. Featuring the first Bluetooth wireless game controller system to ship “in the box” with a leading game console, along with the first integrated Wi-Fi solution for online gaming, Nintendo’s Wii demonstrates the industry’s highest level of commitment by a game console manufacturer to deliver a robust, state-of-the-art wireless gaming experience.

“The Wii game console will take advantage of the most popular wireless technologies to deliver an advanced user experience that no other competitive console can match,” said Genyo Takeda, Senior Managing Director, General Manager, Integrated Research & Development Division for Nintendo. “Broadcom’s ability to supply and support custom features for both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi has enabled us to provide our customers with a unique gaming experience powered by high-performance, field-proven wireless solutions.”

Gaming devices are among the increasingly diverse array of consumer electronics that integrate some form of advanced connectivity, which enables users to engage in dynamic online gaming while interacting with their game consoles in new and exciting ways. The new Wii console from Nintendo is at the forefront of this trend, integrating cutting-edge wireless capabilities that transform the gaming experience. Broadcom’s extensive communications portfolio and experience in enabling wireless connectivity in mainstream consumer devices has contributed to the notion amongst equipment manufacturers that wireless connectivity can enable new categories of products.

“Nintendo’s visionary approach to wireless connectivity provides a compelling illustration of how Bluetooth and Wi-Fi complement each other to provide a unique and convenient user experience,” said Robert A. Rango, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Broadcom’s Wireless Connectivity Group. “Broadcom’s leadership and ability to add custom features to our standards-based Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies provide advantages to product developers seeking dual mode solutions that avoid interference, while delivering advanced performance and features that no other supplier can match.”

Advanced Wireless Capabilities

The Wii console is the first major gaming platform on the market to introduce Bluetooth technology as a standard feature, eliminating the cables between the console, hand-held game controllers and other accessories. Broadcom Bluetooth technology used in the controllers significantly increases the level of performance in the game controller, with special enhancements that provide low latency to accommodate the fast rate of interaction between the controller and the console.

Nintendo further leveraged the versatility of Broadcom’s highly-integrated Bluetooth solution to realize its vision of enabling new and intriguing ways for gamers to interact with their games, and to allow game developers to boldly exercise their creativity to deliver captivating new gaming experiences. Enhancements were made to ensure that the wireless controller system delivers the same reliable, low-latency responsiveness that gamers are accustomed to in wired controllers. In addition, Broadcom’s Bluetooth chip solution features exceptionally low power consumption, maximizing battery life to simplify upkeep and maintenance.

The Wii console also includes Broadcom’s single-chip 54g(R) Wi-Fi solution, which provides a high-performance wireless link for playing online or multi-player games. The console takes advantage of key features including Broadcom BroadRange(TM) technology, which allows users to maintain higher data rates further from the access point. Broadcom’s family of 54g(R) chipsets deliver maximum performance, coverage, security and ease-of-use, and are featured in the industry’s leading brands of networking equipment, PCs, broadband modems and consumer electronics.

Both Bluetooth and 802.11g Wi-Fi products operate in the 2.4 GHz radio frequency band, introducing the possibility of radio interference between the two radio signals. To address this concern, Nintendo drew upon Broadcom’s extensive co-existence experience to optimize the wireless performance for optimal simultaneous throughput of both technologies, minimizing the possibility of radio signal collisions, blocking and other phenomena that could degrade the performance of either device.

About Broadcom

Broadcom Corporation is a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications. Our products enable the delivery of voice, video, data and multimedia to and throughout the home, the office and the mobile environment. Broadcom provides the industry’s broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art system-on-a-chip and software solutions to manufacturers of computing and networking equipment, digital entertainment and broadband access products, and mobile devices. These solutions support our core mission: Connecting everything(R).

Broadcom, one of the world’s largest fabless semiconductor companies with annual revenue of more than $2.5 billion, is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and has offices and research facilities in North America, Asia and Europe. Broadcom may be contacted at 1-949-450-8700 or at www.broadcom.com.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

All statements included or incorporated by reference in this release, other than statements or characterizations of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry and business, management’s beliefs, and certain assumptions made by us, all of which are subject to change. Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “predicts,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “potential,” “continue,” “ongoing,” similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statement.

Important factors that may cause such a difference for Broadcom in connection with Bluetooth and wireless LAN products include, but are not limited to, general economic and political conditions and specific conditions in the markets we address, including the volatility in the technology sector and semiconductor industry, trends in the broadband communications markets in various geographic regions, including seasonality in sales of consumer products into which our products are incorporated, and possible disruption in commercial activities related to terrorist activity or armed conflict in the United States and other locations; the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Broadcom’s technologies and products in the markets for Bluetooth and wireless LAN applications; delays in the adoption and acceptance of industry standards in those markets; our ability to scale our operations in response to changes in demand for our existing products and services or demand for new products requested by our customers; the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders and our ability, as well as the ability of our customers, to manage inventory; the gain or loss of a key customer, design win or order; intellectual property disputes and customer indemnification claims and other types of litigation risk; our ability to specify, develop or acquire, complete, introduce, market and transition to volume production new products and technologies in a cost-effective and timely manner; our ability to retain, recruit and hire key executives, technical personnel and other employees in the positions and numbers, with the experience and capabilities, and at the compensation levels needed to implement our business and product plans; problems or delays that we may face in shifting our products to smaller geometry process technologies and in achieving higher levels of design integration; competitive pressures and other factors such as the qualification, availability and pricing of competing products and technologies and the resulting effects on sales and pricing of our products; the timing of customer-industry qualification and certification of our products and the risks of non-qualification or non-certification; our ability to timely and accurately predict market requirements and evolving industry standards and to identify opportunities in new markets; changes in our product or customer mix; the volume of our product sales and pricing concessions on volume sales; the availability and pricing of third party semiconductor foundry, assembly and test capacity and raw materials; fluctuations in the manufacturing yields of our third party semiconductor foundries and other problems or delays in the fabrication, assembly, testing or delivery of our products; the risks of producing products with new suppliers and at new fabrication and assembly facilities; the quality of our products and any remediation costs; the effectiveness of our expense and product cost control and reduction efforts; the risks and uncertainties associated with our international operations, particularly in light of recent events; the effects of natural disasters, public health emergencies, international conflicts and other events beyond our control; the level of orders received that can be shipped in a fiscal quarter; and other factors.

More About: Wii game console, Broadcom, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Wireless