Quote:NINTENDO NEWS: METROID PRIME HUNTERS WILL BE WI-FI READY

Aug. 26, 2005

Since the Nintendo DS™ first launched with demo versions of Metroid® Prime Hunters, fans have been clamoring for the completed version of the game. Their patience has paid off. Metroid Prime Hunters will launch in the first quarter of 2006, complete with access to Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection, Nintendo’s upcoming online gaming service. Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection will debut before the end of the year with a Mario Kart® and an Animal Crossing® game, and will let players connect wirelessly with one another as easily as if they were sitting in the same room.

For the first time, fans can get their hands on a trial version of the new single-player mission of Metroid Prime Hunters this weekend at the Penny Arcade Expo in Bellevue, Wash. Attendees also can see three previously unreleased bounty hunter characters in the game. These include Sylux, a ruthless sharpshooter who harbors an intense hatred for Metroid heroine Samus Aran; Trace, a young outcast who seeks power and a planet to invade; and Weavel, a cyborg Space Pirate assassin. For more information and videos of the bounty hunters in action, visit www.metroidhunters.com.

Quote:In an interview just cropping up on flaccid, if connected IGN, Nintendo America’s head of communications Perrin Kaplan has savaged Microsoft, in an unexpected attack aimed at undermining the software giant’s chances in the Japanese market.

"Xbox has no recognition at all in Japan and very few people are aware of or anticipating Xbox 2 at this point," she said. "Microsoft has had no success in the Japan market and they were required to attract such developers in order to have a chance in the market. Further, those developers won't be making software for that system that are currently known and loved on other systems, such as Kirby."

Of course, it’s no secret that Microsoft has struggled in Japan, though it looks as though Xbox 360 will have as good a chance as any console might have in the market when launched. Speaking exclusively to SPOnG, Xbox VP Peter Moore said, “Where [Xbox 360] is today in Japan is one of our success stories. Now the proof of the puddin’s always in the tastin’. And you'll see that this holiday at launch. But I couldn’t be more proud of where we’re at there [Japan] right now. The first generation saw a very disappointing launch and the progress for the first generation has been disappointing.”

And on the dismal showing of the first machine Moore stated, “…it was a combination of not having the right content at launch, and when I say right content I mean not even having the promise of a role-playing game or anything like that. It wasn’t there. Secondly, the industrial design was not palatable…” You can the read the entire interview here.

Kaplan goes on to talk about the plans for the next-generation of home consoles and again shows off the bullish (Reggie-inspired) stance now taken at Nintendo’s Redmond office. “At this point, all gamers know what makes Nintendo unique -- innovation, creativity, beloved franchises -- things our company does better than nearly any other in the gaming business. It's these kinds of experiences that make Nintendo products unique, and gamers know that. No matter how new, flashy, or attractive another system may seem, there's something special about the name Nintendo that will always appeal to gamers of all kinds. Our ability to create entertainment experiences like no other makes us proud. We remain solidly dedicated to the sole art of gaming," asserts Kaplan. "It is too early for Nintendo to discuss our strategy for Revolution, but I can tell you that we have much experience running a successful global video game company, and Nintendo will come to the dance extremely well-dressed."

Updates on everything next-gen, especially mud-slinging, right here, as it breaks.

Quote: In six days’ time Europe will experience the biggest hardware launch since PlayStation 2 in 2000, with Sony insisting that any competition with Nintendo is ‘irrelevant’.

And after a hard year for the High Street, PSP brings with it what the trade hopes will be a long-awaited turning point in the fortunes of the market and the promise of a bumper Q4.

Despite shortages, Sony’s handheld has already launched to great success in Japan and the US. And while delays have pushed back the release of the system in PAL territories until September 1st, the £179.99 unit is expected to prove a sell-out.

With the final part of the global launch jigsaw almost in place, backed with a massive £10m cross-media marketing campaign, SCEE expects its dominance in the home console arena to drive its debut handheld system to success, dismissing the challenge of sector leader Nintendo.

“The idea of a handheld rivalry with Nintendo is an irrelevance,” VP of studios Phil Harrison insisted to MCV. “Those formats don’t appear in our planning. It’s not a fair comparison; not fair on them, I should stress. That sounds arrogant, maybe, but it’s the truth.

“Nintendo knows its target audience, because it has really narrowed that down; and it’s pretty much defined by a boy or girl’s ability to admire Pokémon.

“With the DS, it’s fair to say that Nintendo stepped out of the technical race and went for a feature differentiation with the touch screen,” Harrison continued. “But I fear that it won’t have a lasting impact beyond that of a gimmick – so the long-lasting appeal of the platform is at peril as a direct result of that.”

But Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter believes there is enough room for both systems in the market: “Longterm, I see DS expanding Nintendo's demographic upward to the high teens,” he told MCV. “I see Sony’s PSP expanding the ‘mobile’ demographic to the 30s. Both will expand the overall market by providing an outlet for gameplay beyond the home or office.”



The face of the enemy

Sony may be dominant in the home console field, but it has a long way to go to match Nintendo’s handheld achievements...

Game Boy Range
Total global hardware sales (as of 9/04): 176.8m
GBA
Total global sales: 67.7m (inc. SP)
Total PAL sales: 15 million (inc. SP)
Nintendo DS
Total global sales: 6.65m
Total PAL sales: 1.3m (inc. 300k in UK)



Big hitters at launch

While its movie and music playback features will prove a draw, PSP’s ultimate success is dependent on its game content. MCV highlights a trio of titles carrying great expectations...

GTA: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar)
A dream title for SCEE to have in the launch window, retail has been briefed to expect Rockstar’s original, fully 3D adventure to release in October. And with early reactions bordering on the hysterically positive, this has ‘system seller’ written all over it.
Ridge Racer (SCEE)
An integral part of the PlayStation story, Namco’s latest Ridge Racer offers the definitive arcade petrol-fuelled experience.
WipEout Pure (SCEE)
Another title synonymous with Brand PlayStation, Sony Liverpool has conjured another fast and furious, future perfect racing thriller.

Anyone else get (or plan to get) this amazing dog simulator? Sure, it sounds kind of gimmicky, but the realism is amazing. Down to the smallest detail and the tiniest bit of dog movements. It's really something, I could see this being a big hit here just as in Japan if it gets enough exposure.

I've adopted (to start with) a golden retriever named Penny. She's already learned her name, in addition to Sit, Lie Down, Shake Paw, Jump, and Chase Tail. She came in first place at the Agility competition and got pretty good, but not finalist, scores in the obedience competition. She's getting better on walks and, last time, she found a bone she's been gnawing on ever since. Anyone else adopted any dogs today?

The Revolution controller to be revealed September 16th.

BELIEVE.

Who knows if it's true or not but I will say this. With the massive amount of hype this thing has gotten anything less grand than jacking into the Matrix will be a letdown for most.

Is it possible that Nintendo (or its fan base) could over-hype the Revolution to the point that nothing short of heaven in a box will meet expectations?

There's talk of a controller that has full analog tilt and gyroscopes to distribute 'weight' while playing. Even talk of a trackball which, if you think about it, would make perfect sense. A trackball gives you better control than a stick. But the rumores also suggest that the trackball would have extremely advanced force feedback, not just 'rumble' but actual force feedback. Or it could all be one through the groscopic nature of the controller.

couple that with an affordable system that is wi-fi out of the box and connects to a free network along with downloadable content that includes Nintendo's enture library of games that will recieve technical and artistic makeovers along with some third parties which could include Sega, Capcom and Square who would host their games that were released for Nintendo's systems over the decades.

It is a console that has not been done before, an idea that has never seen the light of day. A true Revolution in this industry.

If the rumors above are true, then how could anyone be disappointed?

http://games.kikizo.com/news/200508/141_p1.asp

Yep, they are making it, and it's for the next generation. I'm sure at least one lost sheep would have loved to hear this.

In a world ravashed by fear, only an Eye Witness protection agent played by Samuel L. Jackson can foil the most nafarious of plots ever concieved.

http://www.blackfilm.com/20050819/featur...lane.shtml

Tasked with the protection of a vital eye witness to a mafia crime ring, Samuel L. Jackson's character enters the plane thinking that this is just going to be another typical snake inspection.



"Hi, I am John McMongoose from Eye Witness Protection's special Snake Inspection Squad. I would like to inspect your plane of snakes."

With the plane thoroughly inspected for deadly assasin snakes, the plane takes flight. Little did John know that the snake assasins' human counterparts would hide them by duct taping them to the plane's ceiling! As the adhesive of the tape wears off, unweary passengers below are mildly annoyed when snakes begin to fall from the ceiling on top of them!



Gasp! Tragedy has struck. Luckily, for Keenan's friend and fellow star of Good Burger, he did not make it to the flight because he was running late from his acting class.



An awkward moment between the witness and one of the snakes occurs when the snake tries to cuddle with him rather than attacking.



Samuel L. Jackson arrives just at the right moment to save the victim, reassuring him that it wasn't his fault or the way he dressed, and not to be ashamed of himself. Counselling sessions are promplty scheduled on Jackson's taser phone.

Quote:Looks like an online magazine site seems to think they have the inside scoop on the Nintnedo Revolution controller. Sounds interesting, and I sure hadn’t thought of this, yet somehow if this is all the controller is, I would feel a bit let down. Quote from Computer Games Magazine:<!--StartFragment --> “It's revolutionary in the same two senses that controller rumble is/was revolutionary: first, it's kind of actually not a huge deal, but controllers will eventually all have it because it is pretty neat; and second, it involves revolving. Simply, the Revolution controller will provide resistance to being tilted. No doubt this is done by some application of a tilt sensor such as the one in WarioWare: Twisted combined with rumble technology.

After all, rumble is just done by some off-balance widgets inside the controller spinning really fast. If they were balanced, they could provide enough rotational inertia— the same thing that makes bikes and motorcycles harder to tilt the faster they're going— to perform this trick.

The "could" is why Nintendo hasn't come out with it yet. Yeah, they say they don't want it to be copied, which is valid because I'm sure it will be, just not anytime soon. What's really happening is Nintendo is trying to make this work with wireless controllers, finding the optimal tradeoff between spinning the widgets fast enough to produce a good, strong effect and keeping the controller from eating batteries too quickly. Oh, and it has to be cheap and reliable, too.”

A few things you guys need to know that I havent seen anyone talking about

1.) Nintendo and Capcom have stated that RE5 is also going to be announced for PC and Revolution when there is more Revolution info (when the NDA is up). UBIsoft has also mentioned that they have been working on Revolution games for quite some time, this makes sense as King Kong is also slated for 'Next gen consoles'.

2.) The Revolution will be a hotspot for DS online play and some games will use this during connectivity or downloading/uploading between DS and Revolution networks. Download NES or SNES to DS?

3.) There is major speculation from people 'in the know' who say one of the revolutionary aspects of Revolution's controller is that it involves the revolving technology found in current gen 'rumble' technology to an extreme degree. In other words, the controller itself can be tilted and moved to say, steer a car, the 'gyroscopes' would turn faster or slower inside the controller depending on what is happening on screen which would create a distribution of weight in the controller. So basically, if you're driving on the road going 30 Mph tilting would be relatively easy, but as your speed increases you would find more resistance in tilting the controller. Then let's say you go off road and through mud or sand, the resistance would then be on maximum and would pull very hard when trying to tilt. The same principal can be found by holding a gyroscope while it's spinning very fast.

4.) Here's some pics i've found (they'll be at the bottom of this post), they're pretty self explanetory but one of them is the Revolution Dev Kit and controller! no word on these particular pictures has been given to their validity, so they could be fake. Time will tell. But one thing that seems reliable is that in all cases of these particular picture sets showing the controller, it showcases a trackball that glows blue when the system is on. This trackball could be using real force feed back which would be an incredible feat. You'll notice one picture is of the new Icarus that Miyamoto hinted about - It's being developed by Capcom (who, if you remember, canceled Dead Pheonix for no reason... now we know why)

If you're interested, here are some great sites for Revo info. On one site, this guy claims to be working in NCL and posts in a small blog. It's definitely worth a read.

http://nintendo-revolution.blogspot.com

http://www.connectrevolution.com/mambo/

http://onlynintendorevolution.blogspot.com/

The pictures: