Tag: Industry - Page 34
News Reggie Talks Apple Merger
The stuff dreams are made of for all the shiny white plastic manufacturers around the world.
It's been a soft rumour for quite a while now, ever since we saw the first pictures of the gleaming white Wii console, Nintendo merging with Apple, Apple buying Nintendo, Steve Jobs appearing on the Nintendo stage at E3... alas its all pure geek speculation...
In other news from the Kaplan interview it has been confirmed that Nintendo will now cease to support their GameCube console.
And although the first party support has officially ended - Kaplan believes there is still a strong market for the GameCube system: "... just like the PS2 sold really well this past holiday, GameCube is a great starter...
News Nintendo Wii > XBOX 360 > PS3
Sales data for January has revealed that the Nintendo Wii is totally eclipsing it's competitors in terms of hardware sales at the moment.
The Nintendo Wii sold 436,000 units in January compared to the XBOX 360's 294,000 and PS3's 244,000 according to preliminary NPD data. The NPD data was released by Microsoft and has not yet been officially...
It has been customary to track the sales figures of Nintendo consoles against that of Sony ones to learn of which company is king of the consoles.
However, today has seen some talk from toy manufacturers Tomy who have suggested Nintendo is shrinking the toy market. The company has cut its annual profit forecast from 5 billion yen to 1.7 billion yen...
News Fanboys: EA Say "Buy 360 And/Or Wii, Skip The PS3."
I'm not one to create speculation over which console is the best. As far as I am concerned NintendoLife.com is 100% unbiased and all of us here keep an open mind about the latest video games and consoles.
However the question does always ponder as to whether people within the actual industry (so developers, publishers and the such) have meaningful...
News Capcom: "Nintendo Is For Teh Kids, Lol."
Nintendo has always been perceived to have an overly "kiddy" image but recent announcements about Mamhunt 2 and other such mature games looked set to straighten the record about Nintendos image.
Cue Capcoms senior director of strategy to get his 15 minutes of fame: "If there is a “core player base” on Wii, within two years, it will be...
News Nintendo Controller Wins Emmy Award
No, not the Wii but the NES controller! Nintendo's "D-Pad" shaped a next generation of games.
Nintendo has been awarded an Emmy for the original D-Pad on its Nintendo Entertainment System which debeted over 22 years ago in 1985. "The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has awarded Nintendo an Emmy® Award for its invention of the...
News Nintendo Attracts Indy Developers
Small time start up developers such as "Twelve Interactive" are flocking over to Wii.
Although it might be safe for Sony and Microsoft to attract the multi-million dollar developments, it seems Nintendo's simpler and more innovative system is attracting the smaller developers, who often create something new. "Leading Italian game developer,...
News Wii Sales Continue To Surge Into The New Year
Japan sees increased sales of the Wii, easily the "console of the moment".
With stocks being replenished the Japanese market has had fantastic sales over the past week with 280,000 units sold in the last 7 days in Japan alone. "With the latest figures, Nintendo sits on the cusp of selling its millionth Wii console in Japan. To Dec. 24, a total...
News Nintendo NOT Recalling Wrist Straps
Internet wild fire causes a problem again, Nintendo will replace broken straps but its certainly not a product recall.
It amazes me that professional media sites can get it so wrong, Nintendo have yesterday announced that they will replace any broken wrist straps free of charge but should not be considered a product recall (when a company asks...
News Europe Snaps Up 325,000 Wiis In Just 2 Days
Nintendo boast about their highly successful product launch across Europe.
It's going to be a good Christmas period for Nintendo, possibly their best for over a decade. Wii has sold extremely strongly in all regions with many more people still trying to get their hands on a console. Even the PR writers have lost it and start using Wii-puns. 'Tis the...
Wii sets a UK record, fastest selling console of all time.
The UK arm our favourite Japanese gaming mecha, Nintendo, has announced that over 105,000 Wii consoles were sold over launch weekend, a new record. The previous record was last year when the Xbox 360 sold 70,000 on its launch weekend. What's funny is that apparently Nintendo sold over...
Zelda reaches sales of 410,000 copies in the US, 87% of Wii owners snapping it up on launch day.
Nintendo announce the sales figures for the first 8 days of Wii in the US, selling 600,000 with a total of 1,000,000 to be available by the end of 2006. "In only the first seven days of availability after its Nov. 19 launch, Wii sold nearly half a...
News EA Acquires New Plant Solely For Wii Production
Electronic Arts are said to make or break a console depending on how much third party support they provide. so it can only be good news that they have acquired Utah-based Headgate Studios purely for Wii production.
EA has previously worked with Headgate Studios on an external contract basis but after six years the video game giant has finally...
News Wii Hits One Million Sales As Japan Welcome The Revolution
As Wii is unleashed onto the Japanese market more than 1000 gamers were reported to be outside various Tokyo stores as they awaited the opening of shops.
Nintendo made 400,000 consoles into the Japanese market which meant that a lot of gamers were left empty handed as demand far outstripped supply. This means we can conclude that coupled with...
Figures from UK game-research outlet Chart Track have shown the DS to be the number one choice of gaming hardware in 2006 - beating stiff competition from the likes of the Playstation 2 and XBOX 360.
According to Chart Track a total of 2 million consumers in the UK are now kitted out with a Nintendo DS unit. This really has been a mammoth month so...
Now lets get this straight from the start: everything Reggie Fils-Aime says is cool. Got that? Right, then I'll carry on telling you what he says about the Wii hardware sales.
The Nintendo of America president has said today that Nintendo are on track to ship 4 million Nintendo Wii units by the end of the year - and could even exceed that figure...
News EBay Sales Figures For Wii & PS3
Internet auction site eBay have released figures of the amount of PS3's and Wii's sold in the first 7 days after launch.
It was pretty much expected after the whole Xbox 360 thing that alot of PS3 and Wii consoles would appear on eBay, but exactly how many were there? It seems the auction site saw nearly 30,000 of each console over the launch...
With the jubilation of Nintendo's official sales figures today came some pretty interesting media quotes and statistics outlining exactly how the Nintendo Wii is a step ahead of its competition.
American Research Analyst P.J. McNealy commented on the Nintendo Wii's launch: "Nintendo's launch has been probably a little better than expected and...
If we didn't already know, Nintendo made it official, Wii's launch is a success state side.
It's been almost 10 days since the Wii launched on November 19th, everyone's first indications are good and the launch has been deemed a success. With Nintendo selling a Wii almost 1 per second since launch, Reggie proclaims "Including just first-party...
How does Wii stack up again Xbox 360, PlayStation 3?
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 12 months, you'll probably already know all about the Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3, if not we've compiled a brief guide to get you started. Every single time a new console gets released, the industry gets caught up in the “Next...
News Disney Open Dedicated Nintendo Games Studio
Animation giant Disney is set to open a new games development studio specifically for Wii and DS.
Whilst Disney aren't particularly well known for making "great" games, obviously the Wii's popularity amoung its developers is growing, so much so that Disney want to see more Wii titles in its catalog. "Disney’s gaming division, Buena Vista...
News Wii Wins Popular Science Grand Award
Nintendo's new console wins a "Best of Whats New 2006" award from Popular Science magazine.
Awarded in the "Home Entertainment" category, the "Grand Award" shows that Nintendo have some something right. What many considered as a "gimmick" is already receiving critical acclaim around the world. "Remember when videogames were fun? When the...
Reggie expects a Wii success as we draw closer to the US launch in just over two weeks.
Nintendo is mobilizing the largest worldwide video game console launch in at least a decade, with approximately 4 million Wii™ systems available globally during the six weeks between Wii's Nov. 19 launch in the Americas and the end of 2006. "Although the...
News Street Fighter Returns To The Big Screen
Rumour has it that the Street Fighter franchise is set to return to the silver screen, 14 years after the original flop.
Film site Empire has the lead, claiming that the movie already has a script and should reach cinemas by 2008! "Street Fighter is returning to make another assault on our senses, but instead of planning a follow-up to the...
News Nintendo Brand To Take A Backseat?
What's the strategy? It seems Nintendo might be having a bit of a branding rethink with its Wii console.
If you've kept your ear to the ground in past months, you'll know that Nintendo want you to refer to the new system simply as "Wii", not "Nintendo Wii". It's a little bit of a change in tactics for Nintendo, whom seem to like plastering their...
News Wii Marketing In Full Swing
With only a month until the US launch, Nintendo are starting to push the Wii brand across the globe.
Flickr member "branille" recently posted a photograph of Nintendo's impressive advert in Time Square's Toys R Us store in New York. Nintendo have also announced a aggressive marketing campaign in Europe, a region which is somewhat neglected by the...
Star Wars: Rouge Squadron developer "disappointed" with Wii hardware, dubbed "Gamecube 1.5"
Reported today by CVG, an interview with Factor 5 from this months EGM has seen the developer voice their disappointment in the Wii hardware. "Factor 5, currently developing Lair for the PS3, deemed the Wii a "GameCube 1.5" in reference to its...
News Sony Blamed For Lik-Sang Closure
Hong Kong based company Lik-Sang.com has ceased trading citing Sony as its main reason.
The popular gaming website today posted the news on its homepage over at Lik-Sang.com explaining the situation and why it has to close its doors. "As of today, Lik-Sang.com will not be in the position to accept any new orders and will cancel and refund all...
News Japanese Analysts Announces Their Forecast
A Japanese game-magazine publisher recently had a peek into their magic crystal ball to predict the future of console gaming. Too bad we don't have one of those around here, but lucky for us, the analysts were kind enough to tell us what the future brings.
Apparently, analysts have a rare gift that let them see into the future and predict what's...
Nintendo celebrate the success of the Nintendo DS in the United States helping the industry grow over 11% this year.
According to Nintendo the DS is reaching a new gaming audience of both women and older generations with such games like those featured in the "Touch! Generations" series of games. "Through September's end, the U.S. industry...
Google'd
Nintendo announces a partnership with American AI company AiLive to bring Wii developers a very useful piece of motion capture software.. Ever wondered how the games developers programed the Wii mote to recognise your hands movement? Turns out, they don't have to! Nintendo have partnered with AiLive's "LiveMove" software that teaches the...
News Miyamoto Says The Wii Hardware Is Basically A GC
Shigeru Miyamoto recently made a very interesting statement, in a recent interview with gamebrink.com, he said that Nintendo's upcoming gaming system is nothing more than an upgraded Gamecube.
"The hardware is basically a Gamecube. We've upgraded our development tools to new versions but, you can still use Gamecube programs as they are. With that...
News Cube Games Region Locked On Wii
Eurogamer's recently had the chance to speak to Nintendo UK about some more of the specifics relating to the region locking of the Wii.
A nintendo spokesperson has told Eurogamer that the Wii will be region locked when playing GCN games. So if you imported your GCN games, you will have to get an imported Wii to play them. Nintendo also confirmed...
Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg get hit by plastic case shortage.
The three northern European countries have had a small number of first party titles switched to cardboard cases due to the shortage of normal plastic ones! "A statement from officials at Nintendo of Benelux (Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg) indicates that a...
News Wii Opera Browser Free Until June 2007
Good news for early adopters; The Nintendo Wiis Opera web browser will be free to download until June 2007.
A press released by Opera today has stated that the Wii web browser will be free to download until June 2007. The browser will not cost a thing once downloaded. After that you will be required to use up your Wii points to download the browser...
News Sony Cuts The Price Of Playstation 3
Sony just announced that their upcoming home console Playstation 3, will be 20% cheaper than expected when they release it In Japan later this year.
The competition in the highly anticipated console war is undoubtly heating up, and it's getting worse, as Sony just announced that the Japanese version of their console will get a price cut. The...
News 6 Million DS Units Sold In Europe
Since it's release back in March 2005, the Nintendo DS has sold a total of 6 million units in Europe, proving that Europe is indeed an important market, despite the fact that most publishers and developers seems to ignore us.
A good example of this is the next generation consoles, the Wii will be launched later and more expansive in Europe than in...
News Gamecube Outsells Xbox 360 In Japan
By now, most people know that the Xbox 360 isn't doing that good over in Japan, in fact it's doing terrible. But still, Enterbrain's marketing data service surprised me.
According to Enterbrain, Microsoft's newest console has sold a total of 75,837 units so far this year, while the Nintendo Gamecube has sold 77,124. Both numbers are for Japan,...
News Nintendo GC 2006 Conference
Nintendo reveal very little at this years Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany.
Bernd Fakesch took on the role of Nintendo VIP for today's media briefing, whilst the majority of the conference was showing video reels of existing games for both Wii and DS, there were a couple of announcements. Mario Strikers Charged (Wii): A new version of the...
Frontline Studios accounce a co-production agreement with Nibris.
GoNintendo.com picked up on the press release that has appeared on the Frontline Studios website, and reads the following: "FRONTLINE Studios announced today that it has signed a co-production agreement with Nibris , the author of the highly anticipated Sadness game for the Wii...
News Eidos Boss Expects Wii Success
Lara Croft know-it-all Ian Livingstone has suggested that Nintendo's approach is very interesting and could prove very successful.
This came in an interview with EuroGamer.net, the Eidos "product acquisition director" was quizzed about the company's support for the three major players in the imminent console war. "The beauty about being an...
News Game Development Too Expensive?
Revolution Software MD Charles Cecil suggests that game development budgets are getting too big.
GamesIndustry.biz conducted an interview with Cecil who suggests companies such as EA are "sacrificing creativity for the sake of efficiency." "The bigger developers talk about games costing tens of millions of dollars; it seems patently obvious to...
Mutiplayer fan-made Mario game surfaces on Interweb site, 72dpiarmy.com
The game which seems to be available for PC and Linux has also been published with its entire source code available for download. The creators claim that the game is in tribute to the great giant N in the sky, Nintendo. "Super Mario War is a Super Mario multiplayer game...
News Nintendo & Microsoft Sued Over Patent Violation
US company Anascape are attempting to sue both gaming giants, claiming patent infringements on both suppliers controllers.
This isn't the first patent violation case in the games industry and surely won't be the last. The aim of the company claim is to seek damages and maybe even stop the companies using this technology in future. "A case in...
Life In Tech blogger analyzes the success of the DS compared to its flashy brother, the PSP.
The article posted last week tells the tale of a simple gamer, whom bought both DS and PSP and how his thoughts about the subject when from: "When I was looking for a portable gaming system the Nintendo DS was out of the question; It was a kid's toy and...
News Nintendo Commits To E3 2007
Nintendo emerge as the first major player to commit to next years "downsized" E3 media festival.
News comes pretty quickly whenever people talk about E3, maybe thats the reason for its downsizing. It seems everything has settled down and the expo is back on track, only missing its large show floor. Nintendo have confirmed there attendance for the...
According to Electronic Arts, Nintendo stated that Wii games should be priced no higher than $50
Nintendo fans can already rest peacefully as we know the Wii console won't cost anything near a PS3 or Xbox 360. But what about games? Will they be over priced to compenstate the cheaper system price? Apparently not. Reported by GamesIndustry.biz earlier...
News E3 No More, ESA Confirms Changes
GamesIndustry.biz receive confirmation that E3 is to have radical change in 2007, no longer a single "Mega Show".
The ESA (Entertainment Software Association) president Doug Lowenstein has today confirmed that the E3 Expo will no longer continue to be the biggest event in the games industry calendar. Instead it will focus on a "more intimate event"...
News E3, But Not As We Know It?
GamesIndustry.biz report that changes are afoot with E3 as downsizing rumours are confirmed.
According to UK site GamesIndustry.biz "senior industry sources" have confirmed that the E3 expo will return in a different form next year", this comes "following a unanimous vote by US publishers". "This year, many of the publishers who hold seats on...
