Nintendo's News

Why do Nintendo games, on average, sell so much better than third-party games on the Wii? There are probably a number of ways to answer that question, but according to Disney Interactive Studios executive VP and general manager Graham Hopper, it’s about giving games the time and care they need to reach the “Nintendo level” of quality — and they intend to do so with Epic Mickey.

“I think we’ve tried to learn from the things Nintendo does well,” Hopper said in an interview with Gamasutra. “One of the things that Nintendo does on their own platforms is they give their projects the time and appropriate resources to be successful, and they iterate until they get there. And I think we’re doing the same with Epic Mickey, giving it the time and resources to be successful.”

That, Hopper hopes, will lead to better success than many third parties find on Wii. “I’ll tell you that I don’t think all other third parties are approaching the Wii in the same way. If there’s a third-party game that I think has potential to be as successful on the Wii to Nintendo levels, I’d like to think it’s Disney Epic Mickey. We’re following the same playbook.”

Why do Nintendo games, on average, sell so much better than third-party games on the Wii? There are probably a number of ways to answer that question, but according to Disney Interactive Studios executive VP and general manager Graham Hopper, it’s about giving games the time and care they need to reach the “Nintendo level” of quality — and they intend to do so with Epic Mickey.

“I think we’ve tried to learn from the things Nintendo does well,” Hopper said in an interview with Gamasutra. “One of the things that Nintendo does on their own platforms is they give their projects the time and appropriate resources to be successful, and they iterate until they get there. And I think we’re doing the same with Epic Mickey, giving it the time and resources to be successful.”

That, Hopper hopes, will lead to better success than many third parties find on Wii. “I’ll tell you that I don’t think all other third parties are approaching the Wii in the same way. If there’s a third-party game that I think has potential to be as successful on the Wii to Nintendo levels, I’d like to think it’s Disney Epic Mickey. We’re following the same playbook.”

Do you live in a location where there is not a Gamestop within driving distance? Would you rather have Capcom send you the demo for Monster Hunter Tri in the mail?  Well, you are in luck!
Aurion’s Game and Technology Blog has posted some instructions for how to get this demo disc shipped to your home [...]

By this time, a good majority of you have seen the head-tracking abilities of the Wii (as illustrated by Johnny Chung Lee).  While we have not seen any Wii game take advantage of that yet, it seems that they are moving forward with the DSi’s motion-tracking capabilities utilizing the DSi cameras. Check it out below.
[Official [...]

It’s coming out in 2010! Not necessarily! Yes it totally is! No, it so totally may not! Nintendo has certainly played with the hopes of fans over the last few months about whether their new Wii Zelda would actually release this year, and now Nintendo of America executive vice president Cammie Dunaway is the latest to very nearly confirm it will.

Speaking to Wired during the Nintendo Media Summit earlier this week, Dunaway seemed to suggest Zelda is indeed scheduled for release this year while touting Nintendo’s strong lineup for 2010. “If you compare the first half of 2010 with the first half of 2009, it’s night and day,” Dunaway said. “And from some of the things that [Nintendo president Satoru] Iwata has talked about, and that we will talk about at E3, like Zelda, you know that we’re going to have a good back half of the year, as well.”

Moreover, when Wired’s Chris Kohler — who evidently wagered Mario, Metroid, and Zelda would not all release in the same year — jokingly asked if he would owe Dunaway “a steak dinner” soon, her response was, “I think you do.”

It may not be your own, it may not be your friend’s or neighbor’s, but somewhere in the world at this very moment a Wii Zapper is shedding a single tear. For it has observed the Ghostbusters-themed Wii proton pack mod-case above, and knows it is so far superior that all Zappers might as well kill themselves in response.

This mod showed up on the Ghostbusters Fan forums (via Engadget), presumably made by image poster “irrelevanttomfoolery.” As you can see in the second picture below, it does indeed come with the full proton pack to strap on, and evidently “the Blue Power Cell actually shows you how much power the pack has.”

Truly, there cannot be a person alive who grew up in the ’80s, remembers no other toy with more fondness than their plastic life-size proton pack with the crappy yellow water noodle that stood for the energy stream, and doesn’t have their heart filled with joy when they see this beautiful piece of plastic construction. The tragedy, really, is this thing isn’t being mass-produced for sale.

Arc Rise Fantasia from Ignition Entertainment delivers a one-of-kind journey on the Nintendo Wii. Taking the finest elements from traditional RPGs and blending it with all the whimsy and charm of a blockbuster Japanese anime, Arc Rise Fantasia conjures a real JRPG experience unlike anything released for the Nintendo Wii.
In celebration of the impending [...]

KIDS ARE GOING TO FLIP FOR NEW FLIPS TITLES ON NINTENDO DSi

EA TO LAUNCH SIX NEW INTERACTIVE BOOK TITLES WORLDWIDE; FIRST TITLE ALREADY AVAILABLE IN EUROPEAN DSiWARE STORE
EA today announced that it will release six individual FLIPS titles between now and summer 2010 for the Nintendo DSi.  This new [...]

Next up on Rock Band‘s weekly DLC release schedule are downloads from Silversun Pickups, The Mother Hips, and Rock Band first-timers TRUSTcompany, as well as a three-pack of songs by Disturbed.

Each track will set you back $1.99 (160 Microsoft points; 200 Wii Points) apiece, while the Disturbed bundle will go for the somewhat discounted rate of $5.49 (440 Microsoft points) on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. They’re set to debut on the Xbox Live Marketplace and the Wii’s in-game music store next Tuesday, March 2. You’ll be able to find the tracks on the PlayStation Store that Thursday, March 4.

Check out the full listing of next week’s Rock Band DLC below:

• “Meaning of Life” by Disturbed
• “The Game” by Disturbed
• “Voices” by Disturbed
• “Third Floor Story” by The Mother Hips
• “White Falcon Fuzz” by The Mother Hips *
• “Panic Switch” by Silversun Pickups
• “Sort Of” by Silversun Pickups *
• “Downfall” by TRUSTcompany *

MINOR STORY SPOILERS AHEAD!
* According to the journalist the game looks like a re-make of the Sands of Time.
* Jennings says its more of a re-imagination of the Sands of Time.
* Development started before PoP2008.
* The game uses a [...]