Wii games get bargain sooner!!!

EEDAR's Jesse Divnich finds games for Nintendo's system more likely to get deeply discounted in first three months of release than titles for Xbox 360, PS3.
Earlier this week, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime criticized third-party publishers for not putting their best content on the Wii. A report released yesterday from Electronic Entertainment Design and Research analyst Jesse Divnich might shed some light on one reason third parties aren't wholeheartedly embracing the system.
According to Divnich, Wii games are subject to "early price protection"--deep discounts at stores for which the publisher actually pays--at a rate double that of Xbox 360 games and 66 percent higher than PlayStation 3 titles. Divnich considers early price protection to be when a game's average selling price drops by more than 20 percent within the first three months of launch.
When a game ships to stores but doesn't sell, retailers eager to get rid of the stock will work with the publisher to find a lower price point to sell the game at. After the new price is determined, the publisher then credits the retailer for part of the cost of each remaining copy with the new lower price. Publishers generally engage in price protection because retailers would be excessively conservative in ordering games without it, lest they be saddled with warehouses full of a poorly performing game.
Roughly 7.5 percent of Xbox 360 games and 9.1 percent of PS3 games go into price protection in their first three months, according to Divnich. Meanwhile, 15.1 percent of Wii games have publisher-supported price drops in the first three months.
"This disparity on the Wii reinforces concerns that the market has had with third-party publishers developing successful titles on the Wii," Divnich noted in his report, adding, "Because of the highly competitive and unpredictable mainstream and casual markets, EEDAR believes retailers and publishers are overly aggressive on expectations for Wii games."
Divnich points to a number of factors that could be playing into that accelerated rate of early price protection. For instance, while publishers typically make sure not to release their top-tier hardcore-focused games against competition outside the holiday season, they seem to have no problem releasing the casual games that make up much of the Wii catalog against other casual games aiming for the same audience. Furthermore, with profit margins anecdotally said to be significantly higher on casual titles, publishers wind up taking smaller losses when similar-sized price cuts are made.

Source: GameSpot.

El Wii Fit y Yo.

Fue sin duda un encuentro entre dos mundos. Por un lado, un novedoso gadget dispuesto a hacerme bajar de peso. Por el otro, un gamer empedernido que busca innovaciones y no otra "llamarada de petate".

Primero, tuve que ponerlo en español, ya que si lo dejas en inglés, te maneja todo en libras. El primer paso fue aceptar que mi peso no era el mejor. Que me encontraba algo pasadito. Eso fue algo que me impactó y la verdad me molestó, quien es esa máquina para decir que lo pachoncito es obesidad? En fin, seguí el juego y la verdad es que el resultado fue tan satisfactorio que me quedé jugando mucho tiempo más.

Wii Fit ofrece grandes emociones y muchas satisfacciones. La forma de manejarlo, los ejercicios y la dinámica es fenomenal. La plataforma es una maravilla tecnológica. Los sensores son sumamente sensibles y permite moverse con facilidad. Cuenta con un poco de imprecisión para el cálculo del peso, y no es porque sea una ramita de nardo, simplemente porque mi pesos me lo calculó mal.

Pero de los demás, Oh Dios!! Es una maravilla. Sobre el todo el jogging... ¿Cómo diablos sabe que estoy corriendo a mi ritmo? Es impresionante.

Aún sigo probando sus virtudes, pero dificilmente me harán cambiar de parecer. Para mi, tiene un 8.5 de calificación. Enhorabuena Nintendo!!

DarkPollo.

Dead Rising para el Wii

He aquí algunas imágenes del Dead Rising para el Wii. El juego utilizará un engine similar al de Resident Evil 4.

Fuente: The Magic Box.

Miyamoto San presents Wii Music

Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto revealed an ambitious motion-controlled Wii Music title at E3, featuring saxophones, drum kits and more--all controlled by gestures.

This is the drum kit pedals, seriously
At E3 today, Nintendo gave a real-time demo of long-rumored title Wii Music, which will feature gesture-controlled instruments and the new Wii MotionPlus attachment.
Nintendo icon Shigeru Miyamoto told the audience that Nintendo designed Wii Music to allow everyone to experience the joy of performing music.
When players play a saxophone, for example, they hold the controller as they would a real sax. Same for drums, which will use the Wii Balance Board as the kit pedals.
While most music games today require you to press buttons with precise timing to match symbols on screen, Wii Music relies on the gestures and placement of the Wiimote to create songs.
There will be 50 different instruments in all, including drums, piano, guitar, violin and saxophone, all of which you play using the same positions and gestures as the real thing. There was no timing, as in Guitar Hero or Rock Band, as the gestures, button presses, and timing of the player's movements were controlling the action.The software won't grade your performances, Miyamoto said, but it will record them and allow you to create music videos with up to four people.

The video link is here.

Source: GamePro.

Wii Motion Plus

Nintendo announced Wii MotionPlus for Wii, an add-on that attached to the end of the Wii Remote to provide more comprehensive tracking of player's arm position and orientation, which would enhance precision when playing games such as first person shooter.

Source: The Magic Box

Imagenes del Wii Sports Resort.

Here are some new images of Nintendo's Wii Sports Resort, a new collection of fun sports games which make use of the new Wii MotionPlus add-on, for more responsive and realistic experience. The Wii MotionPlus and Accelerometer will be bundled with the game, Wii MotionPlus plugs into the base of the Wii Remote, and the Accelerometer attaches to the sensor bar. The game will have many new activities like sword play, power cruising (water scooter racing) and disc dog (tossing discs to Mii dog).



Source: The MagicBox

Ebay bids Super Famicom signed by Miyamoto

As much as Nintendo is known for its stable of franchises and iconic characters, one of the most preeminent mascots of the Kyoto-based gaming giant is none other than its jovial senior managing director, Shigeru Miyamoto. Aside from laying the foundation for the publisher's current success by creating figures such as Mario, Link, and Donkey Kong, to name a few, Miyamoto is often credited as a primary contributor in the development of Nintendo's hardware, including the chart-topping Wii.
So, how much would one of these systems be worth were it signed by the legendary game designer? In seven days and counting, the world will know, as a listing for a Miyamoto-signed Super Famicom has surfaced on Internet auction site eBay. In addition to the graffiti'd console with appropriate cords, the auction includes a number of Super Famicom staples, including Super Donkey Kong; Super Mario Kart; Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, and 3; Mario & Wario; and Mikey's Tokyo Disneyland Adventure, as well as a Super Game Boy.
Unlike most auctions of this ilk, the swag comes with little backstory, other than the auctioneer linking to a nondescriptive blog post in which he apparently met Miyamoto at an event in 2005.

Source: Gamespot

Rock Band confirmed for Wii

Last February, an Activision conference call revealed the existence of the Wii edition of Guitar Hero. Though unsurprising, the announcement was welcomed by owners of the still-scarce console looking to embrace their inner Yngwie Malmsteen. Despite a very public disc recall, it was also immensely profitable. The Wii edition of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock sold over 1.2 million units and generated $110 million in the US alone through December 31, 2007.

Today, a post-earnings-report conference call held by Electronic Arts revealed the existence of a Wii version of Rock Band, developed by Guitar Hero creators Harmonix. Though Rock Band is officially published by MTV Games, EA distributes the game via its EA Partners program, and will apparently do the same with the Wii edition.

"One of the things I'm very proud of is the partnership between Electronic Arts and MTV," said EA CEO John Riccitiello to analysts. "In terms of pacing the next few quarters, you're probably well aware of the more than $2.5 million music downloads that have occurred on Rock Band. What's probably the most interesting pieces right now is the coming launch on the Wii, the continued sale of the core platforms in North America, and then the fiscal '09 launch across Europe against all of the SKU. So, frankly for the balance of our Q4 and the first half of fiscal '09, Rock Band is a key focus." (Emphasis added.)

Riccitiello's comments confirm the existence of the Wii Rock Band and the fact that it will be released in the 12 months after April 1, when EA's 2009 financial year begins. Unfortunately, no other information was made available about the game, and inquiries sent to EA and Harmonix representatives were unanswered as of press time.