January
2
2007
8:15 am
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Nintendo has announced that it has formed a development partnership with Korean studio Nexon for a forthcoming but as yet unspecified Wii title.
According to Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata in a recent statement made to the Korean press “We plan to actively support Korean game software developers who have great expertise in developing online games and support their advances into foreign markets…”
Iwata-san also went on to talk about the impending Korean Wii and DS Lite launches, but the big news, at least as far as we’re concerned, is the mention of online expertise and that bit about ‘advances into foreign markets’. And let’s not overlook the fact that Nexon is the outfit responsible for the online racer Crazyracing Kartrider (no, us neither) and the 2D cutesy-pie but insanely popular MMORPG Maple Story – a game that’s been sapping the spare time and bank accounts of our Far Eastern gaming cousins since 2002.
Nintendo is planning to promote the health benefits of its Wii games console, according to executives.
The move could open new markets for the Japanese manufacturer, which has seen its products criticised for allegedly causing injury and damage from overenthusiastic use.
Nintendo has even been accused of being responsible for a type of repetitive strain injury dubbed ‘Nintendonitis’ by doctors.
The company hopes that making the Wii the centre of a healthcare programme will attract new users and encourage them to use the console every day.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told journalists at Tokyo’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club that the new health-focused games would be more likely to attract older players and women.
More About: Nintendo, health benefits, Wii
December 7, 2006 - The Wii is less than three weeks old, but it’s already reached a major sales landmark. Kyodo News reports that Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, during a speech given in Tokyo on the 7th, revealed that the system has crossed the one million mark in worldwide sales.
America accounted for more than 50% of the sales, the news service reports. In the eight days following the 11/19 launch, Nintendo managed to sell 600,000 systems in the American market. In Japan, Nintendo sold 400,000 systems on the 12/2 launch day.
Iwata took a slight jab at the competition during his speech, stating, “We aren’t planning on competing with the PS3, but we’d like it to be said that in the end, Nintendo sold more.”
The Nintendo Wii will launch in Europe on December 8 at an estimated retail price of 249 Euros acording to Satoru Iwata, Global President of Nintend.
The Wii will include one wireless Wii Remote (39 Euros), one Nunchuk (19 Euros), and Wii Sports. The console’s launch will also be accompanied by the the Classic Controller (19 Euros).
More About: Nintendo Wii, Wii, wireless Wii Remote, Wii Sports
According to a report from Next-Gen, the music composer for the Dragon Quest series mentioned something very interesting about Dragon Quest IX Wii:
“[Series producer] Yuji Horii is really busy at the moment on Dragon Quest IX, and I’m really looking forward to what kind of game he’s making this time, as a gamer.”
What is interesting is that according to Next-Gen, Yuji Horii was one of the first game designers who was approached by President of Nintendo Satoru Iwata with the new Wii-mote and Horii had a chance to be contribute to the video that was shown at TGS-2005.
More About: Dragon Quest IX Wii, Yuji Horii, Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, Wii
Kyoto-based game company Nintendo is already having Wii pre-order jitters after Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced in a media briefing this morning that Wii’s release date and price will be revealed during that month.
Most probably during the Tokyo Game Show to be held from the 22nd to 24th of that month.
More About: Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, Wii, release date, price, Tokyo Game Show
In a new interview conducted by Japanese newspaper Nikkei Business Publications, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata commented this:
“The current design for game controllers was determined by Nintendo, so some of our staff disagreed with changing it. Yet after some hands-on time with the prototypes, we knew we had a working formula. That is why I declared at last year’s E3 that revolutionary interfaces will bring change to future games.”
Regarding the idea behind the Wii platform’s Virtual Console, which will allow for the digital distribution of online games, demos, and other content, Iwata stated in the interview:
“When creating a packaged game to be priced at 5,000 yen, developers tend to feel the need to create a rich game. Yet it is possible to create a reasonably entertaining game in 2 months with a team of three.”
“Offering such games for 500 yen over a network could lead to a reasonable number of people purchasing it. By offering an environment that allows this, we hope to encourage more developers to pursue basic yet enjoyable gameplay.”
Turning to WiiConnect 24, which was announced at E3 as a way for the Wii platform to stay connected to the internet and communicate even while not in use, Iwata gave this example to the publication: “Let’s say your Wii is connected to the Internet in a mode that allows activation on a 24-hour basis. This would allow Nintendo to send monthly promotional demos for the DS, during the night, to the Wii consoles in each household. Users would wake up each morning, find the LED lamp on their Wii flashing, and know that Nintendo has sent them something. They would then be able to download the promotional demo from their Wii’s to their Nintendo DS’s.”
source: Gamasutra
More About: Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, WiiConnect 24, Wii, promotional demos for the DS, Nintendo DS
We were looking around for official comment on the PlayStation 3 controller announcement from Nintendo executives who had been surprisingly quiet on the issue, and we came up with this gem from Nintendo presiedent Satoru Iwata.
As you’ll know, Sony tried to take a bite out of Nintendo’s giant pie of glory by adding functionality to its controller that the layman might mistake as comparable to that of the Wii.
“Actually before they made the announcement we already anticipated that they might do that, so I had to laugh. Even though I was laughing, it was with a grim face, I should add,” Iwata told the Seattle Times.
“Having said that, please know that putting the motion-sensor technology into the classic-style controller is one thing. Putting the motion-sensor technology into the Wii remote as well as the ‘nunchuck’ controller, where you can use both hands freely and independently, this is quite another thing.”
Of course, the actual functionality of the Wii and the PlayStation 3 controllers is a world apart.
The PlayStation 3 offers unexplained ‘motion-sensing’ technology, whereas the Wii boasts full recognition of the controllers movement, tilt, angle and placement.
More About: PlayStation 3 controller, Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, Wii, Wii remote, nunchuck
In a recent interview for The Seattle Times Satoru Iwata comments that he really want a star Wars Game for Wii.
this is the question made to Satoru Iwata when he mentioned a Light Saber Game:
Q: Was it hard to add sound to the Wii’s controller? [It has a speaker embedded in it.]
A: Technically speaking, it’s not very difficult. But if you ask me if any company can do it, I think it would be difficult. That’s a very unique advantage Nintendo has. In terms of hardware, we can work very quickly because Nintendo is the hardware manufacturer as well as the software developer and publisher.
In this case, when somebody suggested the idea of putting the speaker into the Wii remote, the trial software was made immediately so we could test what it would sound like.
We really want [filmmaker George] Lucas to think about making a game where this can be used as a light saber. It should be fun.
Read the Full Interview Here
More About: Satoru Iwata, star Wars Game, Wii, Light Saber Game, Wii’s controller, Nintendo, Lucas
Controller
The Wii controller sets aside the traditional controller seen in other mainstream consoles in an attempt to appeal to a larger audience. The controller is shaped like a television remote control and is held with one hand. Due to its symmetrical nature, the Wii’s controller is able to be used by either hand, unlike other controllers. The controller can also be rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise and used like the NES controller.
he controller is also able to sense motion; a sensor placed near the television allows the computer to sense the controller’s position in three-dimensional space. Other sensors in the controller itself allow it to sense its tilt and yaw. This allows players to mimic actual game actions, such as swinging a sword or using a flashlight, instead of simply pushing buttons. An early marketing video showed actors miming such actions as fishing, cooking, drumming, conducting an orchestra, shooting a gun, sword fighting, performing dental surgery, and what seems to be, a game of Super Mario Bros. with one handed play.[9]
The controller also features an expansion port at the bottom which will allow various attachments to be added to the controller. Nintendo has revealed one of these attachments to be a unit which features an analog stick and 2 trigger buttons. It will connect to the main Wii controller via a short cord, and its appearance while connected to the main controller has led it to become dubbed “The Nunchaku”. Nintendo has stated the aforementioned “Nunchaku” add-on may be bundled with the Wii console.
Nintendo has also announced a controller “shell” which will resemble a traditional game controller called the “Classic-Style Expansion Controller”. The Wii “remote” will fit inside this shell which will allow gamers to play games using a traditional controller while retaining the “remote”’s motion sensitivity. According to Satoru Iwata, it is meant for playing “the existing games, virtual console games, and multi-platform games”.[2]
Despite the controller’s similarity to lightguns which are only compatible with standard-definition cathode ray tube televisions, Nintendo has stated the Wii and its controller will be compatible with all televisions including digital projectors.
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