via infendo

Waiting for the Miyamoto keynote to start, I’m sitting three rows from the front. Close enough to see Nintendo’s resident BMOC, Reggie Fils-Aime at the front of the crowd, working it with his trademark smile and good will. He poses for pictures, he signs Wiimotes, he presses the flesh with a good natured ease that would make even the most seasoned politician weep with envy.

“Kick his ass and take his name!” someone shouted from a few rows behind me.

“Who?” answered Reggie in mid-autograph.

“Phil Harrison, front row!” Sure enough, there was Phil Harrison, seated dead center, front row. Looks like he could show up on time for Nintendo’s keynote, but not Sony’s.

With a grin and a chuckle, Reggie replies, “Some would say we’ve already done that.”

Touchdown. The crowd goes wild.
Truth hurts. But it's damn funny. ...

Despite being culprit to cramped fingers, Sony has no intention of redesigning the PSP. Sony officials refuted the idea that that PSP was in need of a DS Lite-style remake, stating that the system will see no physical alterations. The design will stay the same, but the way interacts with consumers may change.

A Sony rep said that soon the PSP would reach its promise. That could be a hint that the PSP will finally be able to download movies and become a more interactive partner with the PS3. Sony hopes to one day allow gamers to download movies directly to the PSP. A resolution depends on Sony's ability to find a way to lock movie content, so that you can't simply copy a pay-for-download film to other PSPs.

Expect announcements on some new PSP functionality within the next few months

via ign ...

via pspfanboy

John Koller, Senior Marketing Manager, revealed an interesting internal statistic in last night's blogger panel: according to his research, only 11-14% of PSP owners have a DS. Although the system may be selling less than Nintendo's dual screened portable, it's clear that Sony's device is targeting a completely different market from Nintendo.

"We're not just competing against Nintendo," Koller explained. The platform has to compete against the iPod, the Zune, and a plethora of other multimedia devices. When asked how Sony will attempt to differentiate their offering even further, Koller simply smiled and hinted that the XMB will become much more fleshed out in the coming months. ...

press release:

You know how it is. You’ve got the family around, drinking your wine and munching their way through your groceries, happily chatting about a previous family meeting. Thing is, you’ve a great home video of the event. You filmed uncle Harold making a fool of himself dancing to MTV, your kid brother tripping over the dog and your cousin and her new boyfriend snogging on the sofa when they thought no one was looking. You just have to show them to your folks…

Trouble is, the movies are on your computer, and your computer is elsewhere in the house. In a tiny room. Which is full of your junk. There’s no way you can squeeze the entire family around your PC, so what do you do? Easy! You use MAX Media Manager Pro, and watch them on your Wii…

MAX Media Manager Pro for Wii is the perfect media management solution. You can transfer MP3s to your supplied SD card, and even rip CDs. Video footage can be converted and condensed, and you can subscribe to Podcasts, manage your picture collection and even swap gamesaves with people from all over the world!

MAX Media Manager Pro for Wii’s audio manager lets you rip the tracks from your CDs and transfer them directly to your 1GB SD card using your PC. Alternatively, copy your digital music collection instead. Just insert the SD card into the supplied USB SD Card Reader and plug it into your PC. When you’ve transferred the files, you can remove the SD card and play back your tracks on your Wii. 1GB is enough to store around 250 songs, or approximately 35 hours of listening.

Video files can be converted and transferred too. You can control the precise size, aspect ratio, zoom, bitrate and audio settings, and encode your movies to fit precisely on the available space on your SD card, ready to be watched on your Wii. You can even rip DVDs directly to the card, as long as they’re not copy-protected.

Viewing your digital photos and other such images on your Wii is really easy with MAX Media Manager Pro for Wii. You can stretch, zoom, resize and generally mess around with your photos as much as you like, then transfer them to your SD card for viewing on your console. As a gigabyte is enough for over a thousand standard digital photos, you’ve the means to make a really impressive slideshow.


You can also subscribe to Podcasts and have them downloaded directly to your computer. Using RSS for automatic updates, the shows of your choice are saved to your PC, ready for you to transfer them to your Wii for listening, or even viewing – video Podcasts are automatically transcoded and saved in a format your console can play back.

Last, but by no means least, MAX Media Manager Pro for Wii is your key to a world of downloaded gamesaves. You can download saves from the internet for use with your favourite Wii games, back them up to your PC and even email them to your friends.

MAX Media Manager Pro for Wii contains a 1GB SD card, a USB Card Reader for your PC and a MAX Media Manager Pro software disc. Everything you need to open a whole world of multimedia marvels! It's also your ticket to a thriving gamesaves community! What more could you ask for?

coming Soon ...

In an otherwise un-noteworthy article about the "console war," BusinessWeek reveals that Pandemic Studios is developing a concept title for Wii. So would that be Project B, Q, X, Y, or Z? In other words, we can rule out another version of Mercenaries 2 -- apparently this Wii project "could attract younger players."

We don't know how you all see it, but when it comes to the children, 'Pandemic' is for the children.

via joystiq ...

Speaking about the history of upstart developer That Game Company at GDC, President Kellee Santiago revealed an extremely interesting tidbit as to where flOw was heading on consoles. Two companies were interested in the title: Sony, as we all are now aware of, and Nintendo.

"That was the hardest decision we ever had to make, choosing between Sony and Nintendo," admitted Santiago. Speaking during the Q & A, Santiago clarified that "they weren't right for us at the time. Sony kind of came to us with the process of incubation ... They helped us get our studio started." Nintendo did not approach them; the team actually cornered them about Cloud at a prior Game Developers Conference. FlOw creator Jenova Chen chimed in, saying "in the end, we are game makers and not console makers," expressing his satisfaction working with Nintendo on other projects. That Game Company did not rule out working on the Wii in the future.

From our current impressions, we think Nintendo missed a golden opportunity here. We'll have more on That Game Company's presentation later in the day.

via joystiq ...

Publisher Take 2 Interactive may undergo vast changes in the wake of its annual general meeting - including, potentially, a sale of the company or of some of its business units.

That's according to CNN columnist Chris Morris, who reported today on his CNN/Money column that many industry insiders are predicting that a shareholder revolt, aimed at taking over the board of directors, will succeed.

The investors behind the revolt currently hold 46 per cent of Take 2's shares - and with both financial and public relations catastrophes still besetting the publisher, it's certainly possible that they could oust the board and with it, current CEO Paul Eibeler.

According to Morris' sources, if that happens Take Two could be immediately put up for sale - with plenty of interested parties both inside and outside the videogames industry likely to want to get their hands on franchises such as Grand Theft Auto. Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is cited as a potential suitor, for one; the firm has long been interested in moving into the game sector, and in the past has contemplated deals including a takeover of Electronic Arts, which was ultimately abandoned as too costly.

The other option, Morris says, is that parts of Take Two would be sold off - possibly divesting the firm of all of its divisions with the exception of the vastly successful Rockstar Games label and studios, which develop and publish titles such as Grand Theft Auto, Bully / Canis Canem Edit and others.

via gibiz ...

via wiifanboy

We've had enough time now with the Wii to discover some real gems (how many hours have you put into just Wii Sports so far?) ... but like any system, there are also a few duds, particularly within the launch window. If you're looking to expand your collection, or if you're one of the Wii-less trying to figure out how to budget when your day comes, we're here to help you find the best and the worst of the Wii so far.

First up? The five best games according to metareviews of those titles released so far:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Metascore: 95%

Maybe everyone doesn't agree -- and we know some of you aren't terribly enthused by the Wii's premiere launch title -- but reviewers on the whole had nothing but praise for Link's latest epic adventure. And with the sales the title has boasted, unless you have been living firmly under a rock, it should be no surprise that this is tops on many Wii lists.


2. Wario Ware: Smooth Moves
Metascore: 83%

There's nothing like a game that encourages players to use the Wiimote to pick their noses. Wario Ware: Smooth Moves deserves the second slot on this list if only for all the comedic fodder and raised eyebrows it brings to this series of tubes we call home.


3. Madden NFL 07
Metascore: 81%

We've seen such mixed player reviews on this one that we're surprised it pulls in at number three. For football fans, the Wii's Madden NFL 07 seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it proposition, and enough reviewers loved it to make up for those who didn't.


4. Trauma Center: Second Opinion
Metascore: 80%

While we didn't find this particular edition of Trauma Center quite as soul-crushingly difficult as the DS version, we were definitely pleased with the move to the Wii. We're not surprised to see this one here at all, particularly after watching random people encourage others to buy it, sight unseen.


5. Rayman Raving Rabbids
Metascore: 76%

There are a lot of things that bunnies can't do, but we'll tell you what they can do, and that's rock your socks. While Super Monkey Ball has a few gems (though they're in the rough), and Wario Ware is a fun, frenetic challenge, Rayman Raving Rabbids shows us exactly why minigames are just so good on the Wii. This one has it all.

While we can mostly agree with the above as a representation of the best the Wii has to offer right now, we have to say ... as great games go, those scores seem a little low overall. Since the SSX Blur debacle, there have been some rumbling questions about reviews for Wii games in particular. Is the system so different that the old reviewers have trouble adjusting? Do you think the above scores are fair ... and are there other games that you think are better overall?

It's not all about reviews and scores, though. Sometimes, a game just has a certain something that defies all logic and reason, and even we here at Wii Fanboy are not immune. We'll even own up to our guilty pleasures.

Alisha: I can't deny it -- I spent a ridiculous amount of time playing Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam. I didn't even particularly like the game at first, but I'm what you might call a Tony Hawk obsessive devotee, so I had to give it a fair shot, and it quickly grew on me. I found the controls much more engaging than Excite Truck (which is somewhat similar in control style), and it's definitely fun for multiplayer races.


Dave: Elebits, because I never really grew out of loving to play hide and seek. That and I get evil fun from trashing the neighborhood capturing those poor, defenseless, cute little guys.

Frankly, we're shocked. Shocked! That Dave seemed like such a nice fellow.

But what good is a list of the best without a little something to balance it out? While we love the Wii like ice cream, we're not above admitting that not everything has been exactly spectacular. So which three games have racked up the worst reviews so far?

1. Far Cry Vengeance
Metascore: 38%

At first, it seemed like everything was gonna be okay ... and then ... well, the review scores are worth a thousand words. So far, Far Cry Vengeance sports the worst scores of any Wii game, and serves as a good lesson that sometimes, graphics do matter.


2. GT Pro Series
Metascore: 41%

Once we saw the first screens from GT Pro Series, it quickly became the game everyone loved to hate, and for good reason. We've seen better pictures slapped onto refrigerators with a magnet before.


3. Rapala Tournament Fishing!
Metascore: 42%

Fishing may seem like a natural fit for the Wii, but this isn't the game to prove it. Shoddy controls and subpar graphics mean that not many are nibbling at Rapala's hook.

So there you have it -- the top contenders and the bottom of the barrel. With a lot to look forward to in the coming months, we doubt that the top five will remain static until the end of the year. Is it possible that something could take the top spot away from Twilight Princess? 95% is tough ...

New from SuccessHK



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