Remember the Nintendo Wii U unveiling at E3 last year? Remember how confusing it was, and how loads of people thought that the tablet gaming controller was just an add-on for the existing Wii? Nintendo’s got itself into a worried state and may be on the verge of a complete rebranding. Read more
It’s become something of a ritual to give the Nintendo Wii a bit of kicking whenever it gets mentioned these days. I for one am guilty of laying into the old-school console, as it struggles to match up to the latest Xbox 360 and PS3 offerings, its casual tag meaning it’s faded badly in the last 18 months or so.
But as the Wii turns five, we should be looking back and celebrating its wider role in democratising gaming, not to mention adding revolutionary controls and making the entire arena a more fun, exciting place.
Satoru Iwata’s comments that the Nintendo Wii’s casual gaming status was a “misunderstanding”, is a little hard to take seriously. Nintendo’s main man used a recent conference call to claim that hardcore gamers were enamoured with the ageing hub and that there was an “over-emphasis” by outside sources on the success of titles like Wii Fit.
The fact is though, Nintendo must take the lion’s share of the blame for this. It’s policy of using mainstream figures outside the gaming industry to promote its products created huge sales, but has tarnished the brand in many core gamers’ eyes. And now next year’s Wii U is set to suffer. If Nintendo can’t shake off the casual tag, its next-gen console could be in for a rough ride.
The Nintendo Wii’s position as the number one casual gaming console went undisputed until the arrival of Xbox Kinect last year. But now Ninty’s top boss reckons that the whole concept of the best-selling console being for casual gamers was a “misunderstanding”. Seems hard to believe, right? Read on and find out just what he had to say.
Amid the hustle and bustle of Gamescom, Nintendo has quietly a new Nintendo Wii. The redesigned model is a slimmed down take on the current design which sits horizontally. The sad news for fans of retro-gaming is that this version of the Wii will arrive without support for GameCube games and accessories.
Nintendo says it will be releasing a number of new bundles to push the redesigned Wii this Christmas. The first to be announced is the Family Edition which includes the Wii, Wii Sports, Wii Party and, curiously, only one Wii Remote Plus controller and nunchuk. That’s a very small family. Nintendo hasn’t announced pricing or availability for the new Wii yet but did throw Wii fans a tasty tidbit with the news that The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will arrive on November 18.
With its successor, the Wii U, due to launch next year, Nintendo is clearly trying to squeeze a little bit more life out of the Wii. Do you think there are many people left to rush out and grab the redesigned console? Hit the headline and jump into the comments to tell us what you think of it. For the rest of today’s gaming news, check out of Gamescom roundup.
Out TBC | £TBC | Nintendo
We’re just over three months away from getting out hands on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and while PS3, Xbox 360 and PC players have all been satiated with news, Wii owners have been waiting for word on their version. Now we’ve got it. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on the Wii is being handled by Treyarch.
The news was revealed by Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling on the One of Swords podcast. He bigged up the studio’s previous experience porting its own work on Call of Duty: Black Ops to the Wii as an example of its ability to translate warfare to the world of the Wiimote. No other details on the Call of Duty: Modern Wafare 3 Wii version have been revealed yet.
Out November | £TBC | Call of Duty (via One of Swords)
A ‘flare red’ Nintendo 3DS will join the ‘aqua blue’ and ‘cosmo black’ varieties on July 14. The launch will be joined by the release of Star Fox 64 3D, also set for the 14th. As the first post-release color variation, the ‘flare red’ 3DS could be the must-have console of the summer.
Joining the red Nintendo Wii, the ‘flare red’ 3DS will make its debut in Japan next month. Pricing is set at ¥25,000 (£190), right in line with the other two color choices. In addition, Nintendo has outed a new Wii bundle, set to launch June 23rd.
