via joystiq

Who's at fault for Nintendo's lack of third-party support: Nintendo, the developers, or the fans themselves? Kevin Cassidy, founder of website GoNintendo, places the blame on the Nintendo community for showing reluctance or unwarranted disdain toward third-party Wii games.

The rant, part of Newsweek writer N'Gai Croal's P2P series, makes a point out of Dewy's Adventure, a game he feels internet users have called in "kiddie" based on its looks alone, subsequently refusing to give it a chance. This is a problem Nintendo had when revealing Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker to be a cel-shaded romp with a pre-adolescent Link. Of course, that game sold well on merit of its Nintendo roots. Dewy's Adventure isn't even out yet, so opinions have room to alter wildly between now and its release later this year.

Is the "kiddie" problem inherently Nintendo's, though? Regard Microsoft's Viva Pinata, a game that has been praised widely but suffers from low (though steady) sales. Is the kiddie image of the title affecting other consoles, too? Cassidy opines that Nintendo fans are clamoring for "mature" titles that include violence and gore, but we feel this is a more universal trend that is affecting all consoles.

A prong in Cassidy's rant also concerns titles rehashed by Ubisoft and EA: "Prince of Persia: Rival Swords; Godfather: Blackhand Edition; Scarface; Mortal Kombat: Armageddon -- fans lambaste them all because they appeared on last-generation platforms." He's right, but are the fans wrong? Publishers are still testing the water on how to cleverly use the Wii remote since the Nintendo versions are not going to have an advantage in the graphics or online department. The perception of the aforementioned titles is that they are simply rehashed games from last generation with motion controls tacked on. Rehashes are part of all early console cycles, and they will continue to spark ire in online communities until developers figure out how to get an optimal financial return on what they release.

Ultimately, you can't trust all the opinions written online; the real indicator is sales figures -- everyone gripes about the annual Madden upgrades, yet they are still a mainstay of yearly top software sales lists. Ubisoft and EA have expressed satisfaction so far on the Wii sales figures. ...

via kotaku

The Wii seems to have no end of quality racing titles in the pipeline, and now Crave adds another with the announcement that Dave Mirra BMX Challenge will bit hitting Nintendo's latest console this June. Featuring 13 different bikes and 12 environments playable in either race or trick mode, the game promises to be the best BMX game ever released for the Wii. I'm interested to see how the controls pan out, though I am imagining they'll be something akin to the setup that SSX Blur used.

"Dave Mirra BMX Challenge will be the first BMX game for Wii," said Jim Flaharty, senior vice president of Crave Studios. "The immersive Wii controls combined with the thrill of BMX racing will make Dave Mirra BMX Challenge a real treat for action sports fans."

I have a real soft spot for BMX games, having broke many a poor bike during my younger teen years. While I was hoping for the long awaited sequel to the critically acclaimed BMXXX (lies!), I suppose this will have to do. ...

Dave from PSPCulture has released a new version of his Nemesis XMB Icons for the PSP.

Check out the screens and full details at the release thread here --> http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=55908 ...

via gamespot

Source: A GamesIndustry.Biz report of a Sony UK event to launch the PSP in Education initiative.

The official story: See below.

What we heard: Much like the rumors of a bigger Xbox 360 hard drive, speculation about a redesigned PlayStation Portable simply refuses to go away. Yesterday they resurfaced as a GamesIndustry.biz article reported that Sony Computer Entertainment UK managing director Ray Maguire finally confirmed the new PSP's existence at a PSP in Education event to promote the system's use in the classroom.

According to the article, Maguire called the current PSP the "first iteration" of the hardware, and that a "smaller, lighter" version would be released in the future. When asked how that would affect the screen size, Maguire reportedly said the PSP's screen dimensions would be preserved despite any changes to the hardware.

When asked about Maguire's comments, Sony Computer Entertainment of America corporate communications director Dave Karraker told GameSpot that "Ray's comments regarding decreasing the size of the PSP were made in the general context that almost all consumer electronics shrink over time as advances are made in the technology to shrink the components used in manufacture. We have not, however, made any announcement regarding any new PSP hardware changes."

While the "we haven't made any announcement line" is an old standby for publishers wanting to make a splash with news that was assumed to be coming anyway, even the GamesIndustry.biz story includes mention of the less-than-concrete nature of Maguire's comments.

"In the longest term, of course we are always looking at ways to continue our platform development, and this normal business practice is what Ray was referring to," the article quotes a Sony representative as saying.

It looks like this one can join the Gears of War sequels and the bigger Xbox 360 hard drive in the file of sure things just waiting to become official.

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus that it's confirmed, not bogus that it'll happen. ...

via gibiz

MumboJumbo boss Paul Jensen believes Europe is an under-served community, and that casual gaming in the region is set to explode.

Talking to GamesIndustry.biz at the Game Developer Conference in San Francisco he reiterated the strength of quick-fix thrills, and MumboJumbo's renewed focus on the European territory.

"We are getting into Europe in a big way," Jensen commented. "We are continuing to be very aggressive at localising our games to get out to the larger countries in Europe."

"Europe is, in my opinion, under served, and is a market that is certainly set to explode, we just have to support it."

MumboJumbo plans to do this both on PC and next-generation consoles, with its first Live Arcade title, Luxor 2, due out shortly.

However, it doesn't want to pigeonhole itself for just one service, and is determined to expand its audience across all available platforms, including previously supported PSP and DS.

"Even though we have a great retail presence, we made a push into PSP and DS because we believe it's opening up an audience even further," Jensen added. "That's why we're supporting [new consoles] with our Xbox Live launch, and we're going to be there when we can with Sony and Nintendo."

With UNO continuing to be a best-seller on Live Arcade, it's a convincing argument, especially as publishers continue to make big noises in the sector - such as EA, and Sierra Online. ...

via gibiz

MumboJumbo boss Paul Jensen believes Europe is an under-served community, and that casual gaming in the region is set to explode.

Talking to GamesIndustry.biz at the Game Developer Conference in San Francisco he reiterated the strength of quick-fix thrills, and MumboJumbo's renewed focus on the European territory.

"We are getting into Europe in a big way," Jensen commented. "We are continuing to be very aggressive at localising our games to get out to the larger countries in Europe."

"Europe is, in my opinion, under served, and is a market that is certainly set to explode, we just have to support it."

MumboJumbo plans to do this both on PC and next-generation consoles, with its first Live Arcade title, Luxor 2, due out shortly.

However, it doesn't want to pigeonhole itself for just one service, and is determined to expand its audience across all available platforms, including previously supported PSP and DS.

"Even though we have a great retail presence, we made a push into PSP and DS because we believe it's opening up an audience even further," Jensen added. "That's why we're supporting [new consoles] with our Xbox Live launch, and we're going to be there when we can with Sony and Nintendo."

With UNO continuing to be a best-seller on Live Arcade, it's a convincing argument, especially as publishers continue to make big noises in the sector - such as EA, and Sierra Online. ...

via eurogamer

In another outrageous outburst of initiative, Nintendo Japan has announced that games developed by students from its Game Seminar 2006 course will be made available to download from the DS Station.

It all kicked off last Thursday over there, and every two weeks a new creation will rear its unique little head on the service, which is free to snatch from.

These games are Attoiu Ma Ni? Ekaki Uta, which lets you communicate with aliens who've journeyed to earth by drawing pictures; Kuru Kuru Tonzuran, an action game that lets you help out mice captured by cats by swinging a steel ball and destroying obstacles; UJ No Tegakichou, which lets you draw pictures to interact with wacky UJ creatures and also doubles as a diary; and Hana Otoki to Hana Onna, an adventure where men and women shout stuff into the microphone at the appropriate times.

However, we won't be seeing either the games or the development course in Europe, unfortunately.

"No, it won't come to Europe, as it's a Japanese local market initiative," a spokesperson for Nintendo told Eurogamer this morning. "Great idea though." ...

If you've participated in an online game with your Nintendo DS, you've already enjoyed the fruits of this partnership, since GameSpy powered Nintendo's first major foray into online matches, but it looks like Nintendo and GameSpy are about to take things up a notch with the Wii. The pair have just announced that GameSpy middleware will power the multiplayer aspects of online Wii games, with current Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection features at first, but eventually friend rosters, matchmaking and ranking at last. It ain't no PlayStation Home, but it looks like Nintendo is finally ready to start seriously chasing online gamers. Pokémon Battle Revolution will kick things off on June 25.

via engadget ...

New from Divineo China



Those official Super Mario Bros little pouch come in colors (Blue, Grey, Pink, Green, Red, and Orange) which are shipped randomly. ...