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Post by newave on Jul 11, 2006 14:33:03 GMT -5
E3 06: Bonk's Adventure playable on Wii TurboGrafx mascot will be playable at E3 at the Hudson booth.
LOS ANGELES--Bonk's Adventure will be playable on the Nintendo Wii at this year's E3, and it is being showcased at the Hudson booth. The game is a port of the 1990 TurboGrafx classic and will be released through the Wii's Virtual Console download service. Hudson has also announced plans to release third-party titles originally released on the TurboGrafx system.
Bonk's Adventure was originally launched in Japan in 1989 for the PC Engine, and in the US in 1990 on the TurboGrafx system. It is a side-scrolling action game set in a prehistoric world, and many gamers may remember Bonk's signature head-butt attack.
We'll have more directly from Hudson's booth when E3 opens in LA tomorrow.
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Post by newave on Jul 11, 2006 14:33:55 GMT -5
E3 06: Wii Virtual Console Hands-On
A big part of Nintendo's next-gen strategy is its back catalog of N64, SNES, and NES games; GameSpot takes a look at how they'll play on the Wii
One of the many Wii features touted by Nintendo has been the Virtual Console that allows Wii owners to download and play games from the company's extensive NES, SNES, and N64 game library using system emulation software. The library isn't limited to legacy Nintendo platform games, either. Nintendo has signed deals to bring Sega and Hudson Soft TurboGrafix 16 games over the Wii Virtual Console as well.
Nintendo's Wii Virtual Console demo station featured five signature games from the system's past: Super Mario Bros. from the NES, Super Mario World from the SNES, Super Mario 64 from the Nintendo 64, Sonic the Hedgehog from the Sega Genesis, and Bonk's Adventure from the TurboGrafix 16. The navigation menu only allowed us to scroll through the five title selection pages, so we didn't get a chance to select and download games to run.
The Wii Virtual Console stations used the gamepad Wii classic controller instead of the motion-sensing Wii-mote used with modern Wii games like Metroid Prime 3: Corruption or Super Mario Galaxy. We spent time playing all five games and didn't notice any differences between the Virtual Console versions and the originals, although we must admit that it's been about decade since we last played these games on their native systems. Games played in a letterbox on the widescreen booth display, but screens still looked sharp and vibrant.
The button settings were fairly intuitive for most games since the layout of the Wii classic controller can safely mimic the controllers of past consoles. Super Mario 64 had the least familiar mapping with player movement bound to the left analog stick, camera angle bound to the right analog stick, and the Z button bound to a tiny button stuck on top of the controller, just to the left of the right shoulder button. Hopefully, Nintendo will allow players to set their own button bindings in shipping Wii systems. The select and pause buttons function as expected, and players can press the home button in the center of the controller to open a quit game prompt to go back to the game-selection menu.
After seeing the Wii handle five flagship console games without a problem, it appears that the Virtual Console emulator is poised for a successful launch.
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Post by newave on Jul 11, 2006 14:35:10 GMT -5
E3 06: Walled-off Wiis draw crowds at Nintendo booth
Attendees can fill up on DS Lite or wait in a lengthy line to see the Wii; playable Wii games include Super Mario Galaxy, Zelda, Wii Sports.
LOS ANGELES--Nintendo is showing dozens of Wii games to attendees of the Electronic Entertainment Expo this year, but they're not making it easy on them.
Much like last year, the front end of Nintendo's E3 booth this year is dominated by the redesigned Nintendo DS Lite. The Game Boy Advance and GameCube are nowhere to be found, with a slew of first- and third-party DS games, including the new DS Pokemon, taking up all the kiosk spaces in the openly accessible front portion of the booth.
All of the Wii games are walled off in the back half of the booth, and anyone who wants to see the Wii needs to wait in a line that will be very familiar to anyone who lost half a day of the Expo just to check out Zelda: Twilight Princess last year.
Before the show even opened this morning, the line of people with exhibitor badges waiting to see the Wii was snaking around the perimeter of the booth. There's a sign warning attendees that the wait in line is an hour from that point, but it serves as little deterrence. The Nintendo faithful are lined up to that sign, out of the booth entirely, down the aisle, and then around the back of the publisher's exhibit space.
Helping them to pass the time are a number of monitors along the wall of the booth that show people who talk to and interact with the attendees, waving to them, explaining the uses of the Wii controller and the like.
GameSpot News got a peek behind the Wii wall, where dozens of Wii systems were set up. Visitors were steered toward an elevated platform, where four Nintendo employees were using the Wii. Two were playing tennis against each other, one was playing Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and another was playing Wii Music Maestro.
After passing by a display case that showed off the hardware, several games were set up in well-equipped alcoves. Further along, the more accessible stations were lined up along the circumference of the inner chamber in Nintendo's booth.
Watching gamers side by side playing with Nintendo's next-gen console is quite unlike it would be on any other system. People are swinging the controller back and forth, holding it sideways, shaking it around, mocking football tosses, and swinging it side to side like a maestro's baton. Because of these active movements, Nintendo is slowly letting people in to avoid crowds that could hinder the free movements.
Want to see just what it was like to enter the Wii portion of Nintendo's booth? Watch GameSpot News' journey into the center of Nintendo's booth to get some hands-on time with the system.
The playable Wii games at E3 are listed below:
Red Steel Metroid Prime 3: Corruption The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Super Mario Galaxy WarioWare: Smooth Moves Wii Sports (including Golf, Tennis, and Baseball) Project H.A.M.M.E.R. Madden Excite Truck Wii Music Orchestra Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam Sonic Wild Fire (working title) Sonic the Hedgehog (on the Virtual Console) Elebits SD Gundam Necro Nesia Final Furlong Bomberman Land SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab Super Monkeyball Banana Blitz Several Wii controller demos
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Post by newave on Jul 11, 2006 14:37:18 GMT -5
GDC 06: Revolution to play Genesis, TurboGrafx games Next-gen Nintendo console's game-download service will span not just decades but former competitors' classic systems.
SAN JOSE, Calif.--Everything old is new again. You only have to look at the success of Xbox Live Arcade to know that while gamers are demanding the hottest graphics and the latest innovations from their next-gen hardware, they also relish the opportunity to travel down memory lane--and they're willing to pay for that chance.
Nintendo knows this. The company announced at E3 last year that its forthcoming Revolution would help scratch the nostalgic itch with a "virtual console" that will let users download and play potentially hundreds of games from the company's back catalog, spanning all of its older systems--the Nintendo 64, SNES, and the hallowed NES.
At its GDC keynote this morning, Nintendo unveiled plans to flesh out the Revolution's classic-game lineup even beyond its own storied library. Today during his keynote speech at the 2006 Game Developers Conference, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced that two former hardware rivals--Sega and Hudson--will make sizable chunks of their own back catalog available for download on the Revolution.
According to Nintendo, over 1,000 games for Sega's Genesis console, released in 1989, will be added to the Revolution's library. Joining them will be an undisclosed number of titles from the Hudson's TurboGrafx console, also released in 1989 and codeveloped by electronics giant NEC. Though no specific titles were mentioned, Nintendo said it is taking a "best of" approach in selecting which games will come to the Revolution.
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Post by newave on Jul 11, 2006 16:07:01 GMT -5
*RUMOR* Wii print ad?I really don’t know if this is a true advertisment or not, and even Raphael isn’t sure! He tells me that this advertisment appears in the German gaming magazine GAMES AKTUELL, or so he heard. If so, I believe this would be one of the first, if not THE first Wii print ad.
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Post by newave on Jul 11, 2006 16:11:58 GMT -5
Virtual Console's future.
July 10, 2006 - Welcome to IGN's Nintendo Minute. Every Friday, an executive from Nintendo of America will answer a single question of ours. Depending on the week, the interviewee will be different, but the answers will always come from one of the following three company bigwigs: VP of sales and marketing Reginald Fils-Aime, VP of corporate affairs Perrin Kaplan or VP of marketing and corporate communications George Harrison.
Readers can make their voice heard by sending us an e-mail and submitting a question for Nintendo of America's elite to answer. If we agree that the question is an important one, we'll pass it along and try to get it answered.
This week's question: We've seen the Xbox Live Arcade generate substantial buzz (and profit) for Microsoft thus far. Since Nintendo has a near-infinite backlog of classic games, the Virtual Console has become a serious selling point for the system for many retro gamers, and a no-brainer for third-party support. At the same time, Mr. Iwata has already hinted at the ability for new games to be downloaded via the Virtual Console as well. Since normal Nintendo development kits are tough to come by, especially for smaller developers, how is Nintendo going to make sure the big idea wins out over the big budget?
Perrin Kaplan, vice president of marketing and corporate communications, Nintendo of America: We're not so much concerned that the big ideas "win out" over the big budget, but rather that all developers have an equal opportunity to showcase their creations. More information will be made public about the Virtual Console in coming months and just like DS or Wii itself, there will be plenty of time for indie developers to get their works to the public. The nice thing about these smaller-budget operations is that they don't require years of lead time or elaborate reviews. We expect some games will be beautiful masterpieces, while others might just be fun-yet-simplistic diversions that no one has thought of before. Both of those have places in the gaming experience world.
We agree the Virtual Console will have access to some of the greatest titles in video game history and players will enjoy them over and over again. That, combined with our affordable price and the revolutionary new control mechanism, will make Wii the console that all developers -- large and small -- want to program for.
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Post by Random Weddle on Jul 11, 2006 18:20:21 GMT -5
Did anyone else get Prey for Xbox 360 today? I got this afternoon, I haven't played it yet though. IGN gave it 9.0 and Teamxbox scored it 8.3
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Post by Mole on Jul 11, 2006 18:39:07 GMT -5
Gamespot gave it a 7.5. I'm not sure about it. I'll likely give it a rent. I got bored in the 360 demo, and that's not too good of a sign for me.
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Post by Random Weddle on Jul 11, 2006 18:46:21 GMT -5
Gamespot gave it a 7.5. I'm not sure about it. I'll likely give it a rent. I got bored in the 360 demo, and that's not too good of a sign for me. I heard Gamespot gave it that, I never go by the reviews they give because they underrated a lot of games. I've bought some games they gave 7's and 7.5's and I thought they were better than that. TXB is usually pretty good with reviews and 8.3 is a great score.
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Post by Happy Pizza on Jul 11, 2006 20:43:11 GMT -5
When I buy games, I make up my mind about them when I see screenshots, what type of game it is, and how awesome it looks. I could care less what IGN gave it. If IGN gave a fishing game a 10/10, big whoop, I'm still not going to play it.
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Post by Random Weddle on Jul 11, 2006 23:12:02 GMT -5
When I buy games, I make up my mind about them when I see screenshots, what type of game it is, and how awesome it looks. I could care less what IGN gave it. If IGN gave a fishing game a 10/10, big whoop, I'm still not going to play it. I decide what games I am going to buy by the previews, screenshots, it's storyline and it's length. Now I know Prey isn't a long game but I think the gameplay looks solid and the storyline seems decent.
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Post by Happy Pizza on Jul 11, 2006 23:16:55 GMT -5
Well I think Gamefly is a gamer's best friend becasue, thanks to it, I haven't regretted buying a game in a long time.
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Post by Random Weddle on Jul 11, 2006 23:57:37 GMT -5
Well I think Gamefly is a gamer's best friend becasue, thanks to it, I haven't regretted buying a game in a long time. Yea, the problem with me I like buying games although I have cut back a ton and I hope to continue to do so.
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Post by Happy Pizza on Jul 12, 2006 0:18:42 GMT -5
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Post by Random Weddle on Jul 12, 2006 0:28:22 GMT -5
I read a COD3 preview on TXB today and it sounds like it's shaping up well. I hope it turns out good.
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Post by montybrown on Jul 12, 2006 0:41:01 GMT -5
How long do you guys think it'll take for XBOX 360 to go down in price? Like December?
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Post by amxfiles on Jul 12, 2006 0:42:50 GMT -5
If the XBox 360 goes down in price around the same time as the PS3 launch, I wouldn't be shock, but I wouldn't hold your breath for a price drop any time in the immediate future.
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Post by montybrown on Jul 12, 2006 0:46:01 GMT -5
Yeah I was thinking that could happen, but Halo 3 will come out right around there I think, so that could convince people alone to buy XBOX 360
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Post by Happy Pizza on Jul 12, 2006 0:49:21 GMT -5
I don't see a price drop anytime soon. It is still reasonably cheaper than the PS3, and I don't think there's been any trouble selling them, so I don't think a price drop is a big priority for Microsoft.
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Post by montybrown on Jul 12, 2006 0:51:06 GMT -5
What's the difference between the $400 XBOX 360 and the $300 core XBOX 360?
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