Nintendo's News

Usually new iterations of popular portable devices get smaller (anyone remember the Game Boy Micro?), but Nintendo is bucking tradition with the DSi LL — a new version of their gaming handheld that adds an extra 1/4 of an inch to the screens. But that’s not all it adds: According to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, the viewing angle for the DSi LL has been improved as well with the intention of making it a spectator system (via Joystiq).

“Nintendo DSi LL features not only bigger monitor screens,” Iwata said in a financial results briefing, “but an improved view angle on the screens to make it the first portable system that can be enjoyed with people surrounding the gamer.”

The idea is to allow people next to the person playing to get a better view of what’s happening on the screens, creating a “new play style where those who are surrounding the game player can also join in one way or the other to the game play.” While the intention is probably for new games to be designed specifically to be played this way on the DSi LL, Iwata also mentioned the Japan-only Tomodachi Collection as a currently released game that can already benefit from surrounding viewers.

Thanks for your patience. The WiiNintendo forums are back online.
Special thanks to hey_suburbia, who did everything worth mentioning while I sat around pretending to help.

It’s appropriate that Halloween is tomorrow, because we’re approaching the scariest time of the year for game reviewers: November. Despite some delays from publishers, this year is still chock full of new games that threaten to cause sleepless nights and deadline headaches. Even this week saw ten new reviews, and we expect to be even busier heading into November. While our reviews staff cowers in a corner, check out this week’s scores below.

• Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time (PS3) – Sam Kennedy: “I’ll admit that there might not be enough to tempt you here. But know this: I’m a casual fan of the series and I still found myself excited to get home and play the game each night the past week. It may be a lot of more of the same, but more of the same has never been so darn addicting.” (A)
• Marvel Super Hero Squad (Wii) – Tina Sanchez: “Ultimately, though, all that really matters here is if you like the idea of a very simple, kid-oriented brawler featuring cute versions of Marvel characters. The rest of the game falls in line adequately.” (C+)
• The Wizard of Oz Beyond the Yellow Brick Road (DS) – Alice Liang: “The graphics and soundtrack warrant a look for their own sake, but it’s a light-on-story alternative view of a classic, that’s sometimes too easy, sometimes too hard, and never quite the enchanting game I hoped it would be.” (C+)
• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky (DS) – Jeremy Parish: ” If you want a challenging RPG, you’re better off with Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer (still available for DS); if you want a superior Pokémon experience, you should opt instead for Pokémon Platinum. And if you’ve already slogged through Explorers of Time/Darkness, the small additions on offer here aren’t really compelling enough to make the game worth playing again.” (C+)

• Grand Theft Auto 4: The Ballad of Gay Tony (360) – Mike Nelson: “With The Ballad of Gay Tony complete and available for download over LIVE (or in the Episodes from Liberty City bundle pack that includes both The Lost and Gay Tony) GTA IV’s final expansion sends itself off in style in some of the most ridiculous ways possible; I think that’s why I like it so much.” (A-)
• DJ Hero (360/PS3/Wii) – Richard Li: “DJ Hero attempts to mold turntablism into a mainstream medium. It succeeds, but stumbles along the way. I didn’t experience the sensation of scratching and mixing, until I turned it up to Expert difficulty. Beginner is way too easy, and Hard is lackluster. Expert difficulty, however, mimics the actions of a DJ…” (B)
• Tropico 3 (PC/360) – Scott Sharkey: “In fact, it’s very tempting to call Tropico 3 “edutainment,” and I only hesitate to do so because the word has long since been synonymous with “no damn fun.” In this case, however, the challenges the game presents are personally involving rather than being all teachy for its own sake.” (B)
• Tekken 6 (PS3/360) – Richard Li: “Rather than spending resources on an updated Tekken Force, Namco Bandai should have spent more time on Tekken’s online matchmaking. Currently, online is too inconsistent to be taken seriously. Without the quality online play, the Tekken community will have to take their battles offline, limiting the potential for community growth.” (B+)
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii) – Alice Liang: “Still, even if you’re not a fanatic about 100% game completions and unlocking every piece of clothing (which only Miis, and not the licensed characters, can wear), sports equipment decals, Mario and Sonic related music tracks, or ranking first in the events, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games offers enough motion-controlled distraction to keep you busy.” (B-)
• Critter Crunch (PS3) – Steve Watts: “Critter Crunch is one of the more clever puzzle games I’ve played recently, and it has charm and personality to spare. The numerous modes grant it a longevity that makes the $6.99 asking price easy to justify even for the tightest wallets.” (A)

It’s appropriate that Halloween is tomorrow, because we’re approaching the scariest time of the year for game reviewers: November. Despite some delays from publishers, this year is still chock full of new games that threaten to cause sleepless nights and deadline headaches. Even this week saw ten new reviews, and we expect to be even busier heading into November. While our reviews staff cowers in a corner, check out this week’s scores below.

• Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time (PS3) – Sam Kennedy: “I’ll admit that there might not be enough to tempt you here. But know this: I’m a casual fan of the series and I still found myself excited to get home and play the game each night the past week. It may be a lot of more of the same, but more of the same has never been so darn addicting.” (A)
• Marvel Super Hero Squad (Wii) – Tina Sanchez: “Ultimately, though, all that really matters here is if you like the idea of a very simple, kid-oriented brawler featuring cute versions of Marvel characters. The rest of the game falls in line adequately.” (C+)
• The Wizard of Oz Beyond the Yellow Brick Road (DS) – Alice Liang: “The graphics and soundtrack warrant a look for their own sake, but it’s a light-on-story alternative view of a classic, that’s sometimes too easy, sometimes too hard, and never quite the enchanting game I hoped it would be.” (C+)
• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky (DS) – Jeremy Parish: ” If you want a challenging RPG, you’re better off with Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer (still available for DS); if you want a superior Pokémon experience, you should opt instead for Pokémon Platinum. And if you’ve already slogged through Explorers of Time/Darkness, the small additions on offer here aren’t really compelling enough to make the game worth playing again.” (C+)

• Grand Theft Auto 4: The Ballad of Gay Tony (360) – Mike Nelson: “With The Ballad of Gay Tony complete and available for download over LIVE (or in the Episodes from Liberty City bundle pack that includes both The Lost and Gay Tony) GTA IV’s final expansion sends itself off in style in some of the most ridiculous ways possible; I think that’s why I like it so much.” (A-)
• DJ Hero (360/PS3/Wii) – Richard Li: “DJ Hero attempts to mold turntablism into a mainstream medium. It succeeds, but stumbles along the way. I didn’t experience the sensation of scratching and mixing, until I turned it up to Expert difficulty. Beginner is way too easy, and Hard is lackluster. Expert difficulty, however, mimics the actions of a DJ…” (B)
• Tropico 3 (PC/360) – Scott Sharkey: “In fact, it’s very tempting to call Tropico 3 “edutainment,” and I only hesitate to do so because the word has long since been synonymous with “no damn fun.” In this case, however, the challenges the game presents are personally involving rather than being all teachy for its own sake.” (B)
• Tekken 6 (PS3/360) – Richard Li: “Rather than spending resources on an updated Tekken Force, Namco Bandai should have spent more time on Tekken’s online matchmaking. Currently, online is too inconsistent to be taken seriously. Without the quality online play, the Tekken community will have to take their battles offline, limiting the potential for community growth.” (B+)
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii) – Alice Liang: “Still, even if you’re not a fanatic about 100% game completions and unlocking every piece of clothing (which only Miis, and not the licensed characters, can wear), sports equipment decals, Mario and Sonic related music tracks, or ranking first in the events, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games offers enough motion-controlled distraction to keep you busy.” (B-)
• Critter Crunch (PS3) – Steve Watts: “Critter Crunch is one of the more clever puzzle games I’ve played recently, and it has charm and personality to spare. The numerous modes grant it a longevity that makes the $6.99 asking price easy to justify even for the tightest wallets.” (A)

Just in time for Halloween, Resident Evil Archives: Resident Evil Zero has been given an official release date. Capcom has announced that the updated prequel will be out on the Wii in early December.

Like the first game in the Resident Evil Archives line, Resident Evil Archives: Resident Evil Zero is the original 2002 GameCube title with added motion control support. The original isn’t extremely hard to find, but if you haven’t played it yet, you might want to wait for the release.

At a Nintendo meeting today, Kotaku has learned that Miyamoto is working on the new Zelda Wii title, which will sport swordplay with the MotionPlus feature. He is also working on a “DS game to play at home” and is interested in how the DS can be used in “public spaces”.
Nintendo mentioned that the company [...]

For currently unknown reasons, the WiiNintendo forums are offline. We will strive to correct the problem as soon as possible.
In the meantime, I take this chance to remind you all of the WiiNintendo IRC channel (ad-free) or shoutbox (some ads), which you are all (of course) free to use while you wait on the forums [...]

Come to Nintendo World between 11am and 3pm on Sunday, November 1 to be one of the first to play Band Hero for the Wii and Nintendo DS! Rock out to 65 of the biggest chart topping hits, get Band Hero giveaways, and enter to win raffle prizes.

The game is a standard mascot kart racing game, very similar to other games in its genre like Mario Kart and Crash Team Racing. Characters race through various race circuits themed on different Sega franchises and collect power-ups to boost their speed or hamper their opponents. Like Sumo’s previous Sega game, Sega Superstars Tennis, each [...]

Lego Rock Band is based primarily on the same gameplay as the main Rock Band series, though includes aspects of collecting and building with Lego bricks as in Traveler Tales’ other Lego-themed games; as compared to Rock Band’s slogan of “Start a band, rock the world”, Lego Rock Band’s catchphrase is “Build a band, rock [...]