Wii News (User Updates Welcome)

[YSSMAN]

Yet another general news thread. You got it, you post it, its as simple as that.

Nintendo of America's Reginald Fils-Aime (yes, Reggie) has told USA Today that the company views online gaming as "essentially an enhanced way to enjoy the gaming experience and drive more sales of hardware and software." Following that logic, there will be no subscription fees for playing Wii games online. "We will offer online-enabled games that the consumers will not have to pay a subscription fee for. They'll be able to enjoy that right out of the box. The Wii console is going to be Wi-Fi enabled, so essentially, you'll be able to plug it in and go. It won't have hidden fees or costs." This would seem to be a direct jab at Microsoft, which charges $50 a year for full multiplayer options on Xbox Live.

While I do thank Nintendo for making their online serivce free, I do have my issues. Not everyone has Wi-Fi readily available, so that isn't a good thing. Of course, if you live in a city like San Francisco or Chicago, you could pretty much play Wii online for free, but thats beside the point. Other problems arise when there really cannot be an guarantee of quality without a service charge, and it will for the most part be up to the given company to maintain the servers online. I don't think we want to relive Need for Speed online again in this generation.

A "trusted person" from the IGN Insider forums has hinted that the Wii will not only have voice communication through a wireless headset, like the Xbox, it will also make use of a proprietary Nintendo feature called "voice-to-text communication." This would read the tone, pitch and volume of a user's words and display them on another player's end in appropriate colours and font sizes. Shouting "I win," for example, might display the words in large red text. This same technology would permit easy censorship of voice chat.

Meh, I suppose its allright for the kids and all. Of course, I'd have to see it in action to get the full scope of the deal, but as of right now, I question the idea as a whole. But we will see, it could end up being pretty cool by days end.

Nintendo has yet to publicize its official launch list, but Nwizard has done a little homework and realized that there could be 27 (or more) games ready for the Wii's launch, compared to the 18 that were out for the 360 and the 15 currently acknowledged for the PS3. Big-name titles for the Wii should include Red Steel, Call of Duty 3, Metroid Prime 3, and Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Click below for the full Nwizard list.


Avatar: The Last Airbender
Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
Blitz: The League
Call of Duty 3
Cars
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors
Elebits
Excite Truck
Far Cry
GT Pro Series
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Madden NFL 07
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
Metal Slug Anthology
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Monster 4x4 World Circuit
Need for Speed: Carbon
Open Season
Rayman Raving Rabbids
Red Steel
SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam
Trauma Center: Second Opinion
Wii Sports

It is a decent list allright, but nothing to make me jump up an say "Wow, I need to get in line for a Wii, now!" Of course Zelda will be the big seller, and I wouldn't be surprised to see CoD3 being a big hit as well. I'm sure we won't have any truely "solid" details on the Wii's launch titles untill October, but we will have to see.

 

[Wolfe]

Word has it that Nintendo is going to spill the beans on September 14th...

Nintendo seems to have set aside mid-September as worldwide Wii day. According to Japan's Kabushiki Shimbun newspaper, the company will be showing off the Wii to the Japanese press at an event scheduled to be held on 9/14.

Attendees will be able to sample the system first hand, the paper reports. The paper also expects pricing and release information to be announced at the event, something that would be inline with previous Nintendo statements.

A Japanese event held on the 14th coincides perfectly with similar events Nintendo has planned for the 15th in Europe and the 14th in America. Nintendo is expected to show region-specific products at each event. We eagerly anticipate our first look at Wiimote-based mahjong.

This event will mark the second time the Japanese press has gotten hands on time with the Wii. Following E3, Nintendo gathered select members of the press for a demo event using its E3 content. This time around, the games will likely be closer to completion.

The Nintendo event will be held one week before the Tokyo Game Show, where Sony and Microsoft will show off their own next generation offerings. Nintendo does not attend TGS, instead opting for its own product showings.

 

[a6m5]

Cool. I'm looking foward to it. I've never heard of "Kabushiki Shinbun" though. It must be some kind of industrial (news)paper.

 

[Omnis]

Cool. I'm looking foward to it. I've never heard of "Kabushiki Shinbun" though. It must be some kind of industrial (news)paper.

It's more likely the Kobe Shimbun newspaper.