Sleepy Gamer » nintendo

E3 Hands-On Roundup

Garret — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:07:48 +0000

Van and I were fortunate enough to attend E3 this year down in Los Angeles, and although most of the good stuff was shrouded in secrecy behind closed doors, we were able to try out what we could on the showroom floor. If I’d have to classify the show’s vibe, I’d say the ESA took a line drive down the middle, between the spectacle of E3’s of the past and the invite-only reduction seen in the last few years. There was enough foot traffic and crowds to know what was hot, yet the lines were not long enough that you had to pick what to see and what to bypass. So take a look at what we saw and played.

New Super Mario Bros Wii

NSMB Wii was Nintendo’s olive branch to the hardcore for 2009, since their other debuted must-haves (Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid: Other M) won’t be out until 2010. The fresh take on the classic platforming formula moves to the Wii with a Zelda: The Four Swords-like approach to multiplayer. We were able to try out one of the 4-player levels in its cooperative, but mostly competitive, 2.5-D sidescrolling mayhem. As always, the controls were solid (what Mario game isn’t?) and the action was intense. However, it was more fun trying to screw with your rival buddies, flinging each other into pits and bouncing on heads, than it was trying to navigate the level honorably. I’m assuming the final package will include every bit as much gameplay as the single player DS campaign did, and coupled with multiplayer, it looks to be quite the party game this Fall.

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© garret for Sleepy Gamer, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: e3, forza, mario, microsoft, nintendo, zelda

Weekend Bytes for 10/4

Garret — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 06:50:13 +0000

The successor to the ever popular Nintendo DS handheld, the DSi, is revealed.. Among some of the new features, the DSi boasts larger screens, an even slimmer form factor, standard web browser, 2 built-in 0.3 megapixel cameras (one aimed outward in front, one inside aimed at the user), and an SD memory card slot. Also, be prepared to start downloading DS games from a new, online, portable store. But if you live outside Japan, don’t expect to get your hands on one before 2009.

Flurry of announced Nintendo games, including a new Punch-Out!.. The new DS revision wasn’t the only news to come out of the recent Nintendo conference. Other announced titles include Sin and Punishment 2, Fire Emblem DS, and Mario and Luigi RPG 3. Also, get ready for even more Gamecube Wii-makes, namely Metroid Primes 1 & 2, Mario Tennis, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, and Pikmin.

Those pesky Wii HD rumors just won’t go away.. Seems the latest sources predict the next Nintendo console to launch sometime in 2011 and offer a more significant leap in hardware than the jump from Gamecube to Wii. Yet to be seen is whether or not the new system will iterate on the “making you look ridiculous while playing” novelty that made the Wii such a truly unique experience.

PlayOn Beta for PS3 and Xbox360 gives the gift of Netflix, Hulu and other online video streaming.. Why wait for Netflix streaming in the upcoming Xbox360 dashboard update when you can do all that and more with PlayOn. Sign up for the beta now!

Take-Two decides to remain independent after the failed EA hostile takeover attempt.. The mid-sized publisher behind such game series’ as Grand Theft Auto and the 2K line of sports titles avoids the consolidation that has become almost routine in the industry.

© garret for Sleepy Gamer, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dsi, netflix, nintendo, wii

Rethinking the Product Life Cycle

Garret — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:00:20 +0000

Nintendo redefined what was traditionally thought to be the video game console life cycle with the Wii. They focused on getting a fun and affordable system into people’s houses, with the concept of “play, not graphics” being the primary driving force. In doing so, they were able to jump forward into the console life cycle at the point in which mass market acceptance becomes high and barriers to entry are low. Everyone became an early adopter of the Wii; hardcore gamers, families, young professionals, middle aged couples, and everyone in between.

One side effect of this swift change has been the reduction in quantity of game releases aimed squarely at the hardcore gamer. While Nintendo initially did an excellent job releasing their stable of beloved franchises (Mario, Zelda, Smash Bros, Mart Kart), since then we’ve seen a considerable decline in the amount of notable core game releases from Nintendo. E3 was a prime example of this, as Nintendo failed to deliver the excitement and promise of new games to get the hardcore excited. They did, however, acknowledge that these titles were being worked on. Recently, there was an article in Edge magazine about how Nintendo would have these core titles ready in approximately 2 to 3 years. But if the Wii software cycle started off toward the middle of what we’ve come to know of the conventional product cycle, does this mean we should expect these games on the next Nintendo console instead?

The rumors and speculation about an major upcoming Wii redesign are actually very plausible. Nintendo could still draw upon the incredibly popular Wii branding, perhaps naming the next console “Nintendo Wii Plus” or “Wii HD”, to keep the strong mainstream mind share alive. And just like the jump from Gamecube to Wii wasn’t a monumental jump forward in graphics, this redesign could continue this tradition, using multicore technology and the Bluray format, at a point when such hardware is much cheaper. It could easily include hardware-based backwards compatibility with all the existing Wii software and maybe even support the current controllers and peripherals as well.

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© garret for Sleepy Gamer, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: microsoft, nintendo, sony, wii