GameTrailers Updates:

• Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 “baseball challenge”
• Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 “carrot spitting”
• My Word Coach DS to Wii connectivity
• Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 trailer
• Shrek the Third TV spot
• Rayman Raving Rabbids “burger serving”
• Rayman Raving Rabbids “rodeo demo”
• Cosmic Family trailer
• Tomb Raider Anniversary “enter the tyrant”

GameVideos Updates:

• Mario Paint “Sonic theme”
• Mario Paint “Tetris theme”
• Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 “transform”
• Carnival Games trailer

GameSpot Updates:

• Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 becomes Wii, DS exclusive
• Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 interview
• Rayman Raving Rabbids multiplayer demo hands-on
• My Word Coach Wii screens
• Horsez 2 Wii screens
• Cosmic Family screens
• Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 Wii screens
• Boogie trailer 2
• Carnival Games hands-on
• The Bigs hands-on

  IGN Updates:

• Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 hands-on
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl screens
• Ubisoft announces Horsez 2 Wii
• Wireless axes confirmed for Guitar Hero III
• Cosmic Family comes to Wii
• ESRB updates
• 35 Million Wiis by 2012?
• Harry Potter developer diary videos
• Mario Party 8 videos
• Paper Mario headed to VC?

This is an excerpt from the Preview of the Nintendo Wii Game Pokemon: Battle Revolution by CVG

It’s Wii’s first instalment of Pokemon fight club, and it’s time to drag your peepers over the DS connectivity possibilities.

Via the kind of creepy sorcery usually reserved for fantasy tosh, the Wii will be able to communicate with any DS sporting a copy of Pokemon Diamond or Pearl. Like a concerned parent trying to convince its firstborn that the new child isn’t the favourite, the Wii will favour the DS, transferring game control to the touchpad.

Fill Preview 

More About: Preview, Nintendo Wii, Pokemon: Battle Revolution

If you live in Monterrey NL. Mexico, Now you can Preorder your Nintendo Wii in Sears at a price of $4,499 pesos.

La preventa del Nintendo Wii en Monterrey NL puedes hacerla en tu tienda Sears a un precio de $4,499 pesos, si eres tarjetabiente de sears puedes reservarla con tu tarjeta sears sin ningun costo en ese momento, al momento de la entrega, se te cargara el costo a tu tarjeta.

(disponible a partir del 19 de noviembre) preventa

la mayoría de los gamers lo conocen como la revolución de nintendo, pero el nuevo nombre es wii (pronunciado como “we”, en inglés), continuando con una tendencia iniciada con el gamecube y seguida por el ds, el nuevo wii pone en evidencia la filosofía única de nintendo. wii representa no sólo otra evolución de la tecnología de los videojuegos, sino una nueva dirección en la evolución de los videojuegos.
esta nueva consola esta enfocada en la accesibilidad, aumentando el público que será capaz de divertirse con wii. jugadores y no jugadores vivirán la experiencia de la nueva generación de videojuegos. el nuevo wii rompe la barrera entre los videojugadores y la gente común, esta consola es para todos.

características:

• cpu: ibm broadway 729mhz
• internal storage.512mb flash memory.
• gpu: ati hollywood.
• optical disc drive 8cm gamecube/12cm wii.
• supported resolution up to 480p 12cm
• disc capacity 4.7gb (single) / 8.5gb (dual).
• system memory unknown
• memory expansion 2 sd memory.
• wii controller ports: wireless (4 minimum)
• internet connectivity wifi 802.11b/g.
• gamecube controller ports: 4 ports.
• disc compatibility: gamecube.
• gamecube memory expansion: 2 ports.
• downloadable content: nes, snes, n64, sega genesis, turbo grafx.
• usb 2.0: 2 ports.

More About: Monterrey, Mexico, Nintendo Wii, Sears, Nintendo Wii en Monterrey

Famitsu recently ran a poll with 58 developers at 19 Japanese game companies concerning next generation consoles/software. Check out their responses below.

What are your expectations for next-gen consoles?

PS3
48% Extremely high expectations
32% High expectations
18% Low expectations

Xbox 360
13% Extremely high expectations
40% High expectations and
45% Low expectations

Wii
63% Extremely high expectations
36% High expectations
1% Low expectations

For each next gen system, what software are you looking forward to the most?

PS3’s lineup
Metal Gear Solid 4 (12 votes)
Final Fantasy XIII (10 votes)
The Eye of Judgment (7 votes)
Afrika (6 votes)
Heavenly Sword (4 votes)

Xbox 360
Blue Dragon (18 votes)
Lost Odyssey (14 votes)
Culdecept Saga (8 votes)
Dead Rising (4 votes)
Gundam Operation Troy (4 votes)

Wii
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (26 votes)
Super Mario Galaxy (8 votes)
Wii Sports (5 votes)
Animal Crossing (3 votes)
Super Smash Brothers Brawl (3 votes)

What is your favorite part of each next-gen system?

PS3
Visual power took the top spot on (19 votes)
Overall hardware specs (10 votes)
Cell’s computation abilities (9 votes)
Built-in hard disk (3 votes)
Blu-Ray (3 votes)

Xbox 360
Xbox Live (18 votes)
Ease of development (13 votes)
Connectivity with Windows Vista (12 votes)
Visual power (6 votes)
Overall hardware balance (4 votes)

Wii
Wiimote (34 votes).
Wii Connect 24 (9 votes)
Virtual Console (6 votes)
Ease of development (4 votes)
Console price (3 votes)

What next-gen console do you believe will sell the most?

Wii - 60%
PS3 - 37%
Xbox 360 - 3%

What next-gen console would you like to develop for the most?

Wii - 63%
PS3 - 32%
Xbox 360 - 5%.

What next-gen console are you most looking forward to owning?

Wii - 49%
PS3 - 42%
Xbox 360 - 9%.

Source: GoNintendo

Maxconsole published new nintendo wii specs that where sended to them by an anonymous Wii Developer

The Wii Hardware

• Nintendo Wii’s ‘Broadway’ CPU operates at 729MHZ with a maximum bandwith of 1.9gbyte/sec.
• Nintendo Wii’s ‘HollyWood’ GPU is clocked at 243MHZ, the internal memory of it includes 3mb of embedded graphics memory and 24megabytes of high speed main memory.
• 64megabytes of GDDR3 (MEM2) as the external main memory. Just like the internal memory, it can be accessed from the CPU and GPU with a maximum bandwidth of 4gbytes/sec and can also store programs in the MEM2.
• The GPU of the Wii is identical to the GC’s but it is on average 1.5X faster.

Wii’s Optical Disc Drive

• Opitcal Disc Drive (ODD) supports single and dual layer Wii disks, discs eject with software or button and the maximum read speed is the equivalent of DVDx6.
• Two main disc types supported the single sided 12cm single sided 4.7gb and the double sided 8.51 GB. Nintendo GC discs also supported. Some of the capacity of the discs are used by the system and games can not use full disc space.
• Inserting a disc will start the Wii console, even if it was already in an off state. Pressing the eject button will change the console to an on state to take out the disc also.

Wii General Overview

• An optional wired LAN adapter that connects to a USB port is in the pipeline for users who do not possess a wireless LAN set-up currently.
• Internal non-removable 512MB flash memory used to storage game save data and downloadable content thus eliminating the Need for a memory card.
• Both Wii discs and Gamecube discs can be played via an intelligent mode swap. When running in GC mode, the Wii’s CPU and GPU will lower to the respective speeds of the GC and some of the MEM2 functions as ARAM.
• Software development environment is an upgrade to the ‘Dolphin SDK’ used with the GC; the same libraries are used so developers can get up to scratch easily as well as the possibility of ports being easier.
• The following interfaces are included with the Wii; SD card slot, Wireless controller, two USB 2.0 ports, wireless LAN, 4x GC controller ports, 2x GC memory card slots and an AV multi output jack (only an analog jack).
• Supports Wii disks (one sided 12cm) and GC discs (one sided 8cm) and console auto switches depends on what disk is inserted
• More than just the Nunchaku is planned as an extension. GC peripherals such as DK bongos can be used in both Wii and GC modes.
• Three power status, on, off and unplugged. To prevent mistaken turn offs, the power button must be held for about a second.

The Wii Control System

• The Wii controller features; Direct Pointing Device, Three axis accelerometer, Wii power button (remotely turn console on/off), buttons, wireless connectivity, indicator LED’s, rumble, battery powered (two AA alkaline batteries) and ability to connect extension unit.
• The Wii controller supports three types of operations; by itself, with a nunchuk extension or with a classic controller. Classic controllers will ship to developers during August 2006.
• The SYNCHRO button on the Wii controller exchanges wireless ID numbers when pressed at the same time as SYNCRHO on the Wii console. Wireless communications are only possible with consoles which have been authenticated.
• The rumble motor can be turned on and off and the intensity can be changed.
• The Wii remote has a pointer for fine movements as well as a motion sensor +/- 3.4G suitable for larger body movements, the nunchuk attachment has a sensor of +/- 2G
• The sensor bar must be placed above or below a TV set, the pointer measures coordinates between the ends of the bar which are about 20cm apart.
• The Wii remote has four status, disconnected, communicating, establishing connection and pairing wait status.
• The pointer can measure co-ordinates within bounds of rectangle centered upon the sensor bar, thus it can also measure points beyond the screen. It also responds to strong light sources, windows, fluorescent lamps, fireplaces, mirrors etc.
• Due to players hands shaking while holding the controller, a ring buffer allows a precise direction to be created to hold and average accelerator samples.

Wii Broadway CPU

Broadway is Wii’s CPU. Broadway functionality and specifications are as follows.

• Operating speed: 729 MHz
• Bus to main memory: 243 MHz, 64 bits (maximum bandwidth: 1.9 gigabytes/sec)
• 32-kilobyte 8-way set-associative L1 instruction cache
• 32-kilobyte 8-way set-associative L1 data cache (can set up 16-kilobyte data scratch pad)
• Superscalar microprocessor with six execution units (floating-point unit, branching unit, system register unit, load/store unit, two integer units)
• DMA unit (15-entry DMA request queue) used by 16-kilobyte data scratch pad
• Write-gather buffer for writing graphics command lists to the graphics chip
• Onboard 256-kilobyte 2-way set-associative L2 integrated cache
• Two, 32-bit integer units (IU)
• One floating point unit (FPU) (supports single precision (32-bit) and double precision (64-bit))
• The FPU supports paired single floating point (FP/PS)
• The FPU supports paired single multiply add (ps_madd). Most FP/PS instructions can be issued in each cycle and completed in three cycles.
• Fixed-point to floating-point conversion can be performed at the same time as FPU register load and store, with no loss in performance.
• The branch unit supports static branch prediction and dynamic branch prediction.
• When an instruction is stalled on data, the next instruction can be issued and executed.
• All instructions maintain program logic and will complete in the correct program order.
• Supports three L2 cache fetch modes: 32-Byte, 64-Byte, and 128-Byte.

Supports these bus pipeline depth levels: level 2, level 3, and level 4.
Reference Information: Broadway is upward compatible with Nintendo GameCube’s CPU (Gekko).

Wii Hollywood GPU

Hollywood is a system LSI composed of a GPU and internal main memory (MEM1). Hollywood is clocked at 243 MHz. Its internal memory consists of 3 megabytes of embedded graphics memory and 24 megabytes of high speed main memory.

Hollywood includes the following.

• Graphics processing unit (with 3 megabytes of eDRAM)
• Audio DSP
• I/O Bridge
• 24 megabytes of internal main memory
• Internal main memory operates at 486 MHz.
• Maximum bandwidth between Hollywood and internal main memory: 3.9 gigabytes per second
• Possible to locate a program here

Reference Information: Hollywood is similar to Nintendo GameCube’s Flipper and Splash components.

Wii External Main Memory (MEM2)

Wii uses 64 megabytes of GDDR3 (MEM2) as external main memory. Like internal main memory, MEM2 can be accessed directly from Broadway and the GPU at high speed and has a peak bandwidth of 4 gigabytes/sec. Programs can also be placed in MEM2.

More About: nintendo wii specs, Wii Developer, Wii Hardware, Wii’s Optical Disc, Wii Control System, Wii Broadway CPU, Wii Hollywood GPU, Wii External Main Memory

At a management direction meeting held today, Nintendo unveiled some new information about the DS and Wii.

Some features involving the DS-Wii connectivity include the ability to use the DS as a touch-screen control for Wii games and the Wii acting as a DS download station for game demos. Iwata also said that DS games could be “expanded” via Wii.

source: PlanetGameCube

During an interview with Kotaku, Mr. Miyamoto mentioned each Wii controller may have a built-in profile system which could allow for customisation of looks and settings, which will be determined by which Wii controller turned the Wii on.

Mr. Miyamoto also touched on Wii/DS connectivity mentioning once connected the DS could effect gameplay via touch screen and microphone. He also said another possibility is to download information from Wii to DS, edit it, the re-upload the data back to Wii.

Source: Kotaku

More About: Miyamoto, Wii controller, profile system, 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

Processors:

• IBM “Broadway” CPU
• ATI “Hollywood” GPU

Memory:

• Unknown amount of RAM
• 512 MB built-in flash memory.

Ports and Peripherals:

• Two USB 2.0 ports.
• Support for wireless controllers.
• 4 Nintendo GameCube controller ports and 2 Nintendo GameCube memory card ports (for backward compatibility).
• Optional USB PC-compatible 802.11b (Wi-Fi) wireless attachment. (see Connectivity)

Media:

• Slot-loading optical disc drive compatible with both 12 cm Wii optical discs and 8.0 cm GameCube optical discs (1.5 GB) as well as standard DVD discs.
• 2 Front-loading SD memory card slots.

Built-in content ratings system:

• PEGI 3+, 7+, 12+, 16+, 18+
• ESRB EC, E, E10+, T, M, and AO.
• CERO All Ages, 12+, 15+ 18+.
• OFLC G, PG, M, MA15+

Networking

• Wi-Fi by Broadcom

Video:

• up to 480p and will work with a computer monitor as well as any TV or projector.

Audio:

• Unknown

More About: Wii Connectivity, Nintendo Wii, Wi-Fi, Download Play, multiplayer, Nintendo DS