via wiifanboy

Fire Emblem is not like Ice Emblem in that it is, well, hot. When a small portal opened, leading to just a subsection of its fiery domain, we could not resist.

The official site for Fire Emblem: Akatsuki no Megami has opened for business, and yes, its entirely in Japanese. For your viewing pleasure, though, you might check out this bitchin' opening cinema, and some excellent box art. We're such suckers for box art. In any case, any FE fans out there owe it to themselves to journey to yon fiery realm. You won't be disappointed.

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via codename rev

Eric Viennot, who’s current project is “In Memoriam” revealed in his blog his plans to develop a Wii title with Paul Cuisset, developer of Flashback (SNES) and the Motoracer series. It is currently unknown what game the tag team will be working on for Wii. ...

via wiifanboy

Now, you could very well be questioning many things right now, most importantly the title of this post. Trust us, we did not know either upon receiving the press release in our inbox, however upon further inspection we found that using Wiimotes and a PC to DJ (dubbed Wiijing by the fine folks who sent us the mentioned press release) is actually quite fascinating, although at times appears to be fake.

Video Here --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46DOpVNhNn8 ...

via wiifanboy

According to Nintendo, they have no plans on addressing the issues all of us face when trying to save ghost data in the recently released Virtual Console title Mario Kart 64. According to a Nintendo spokesperson, by way of Pro-G, "Due to unavoidable technical reasons unfortunately it is not possible to save ghost data." Turns out, gamers are warned of this issue before downloading the title.

With the steep price of 1,000 Wii Points, shouldn't consumers expect a little more effort on Nintendo's part? How hard would it be for someone to implement code into the game informing it to save the ghost data to the Wii's memory? We really hope that this doesn't set a trend for future N64 VC releases that used Controller Paks to save data. ...

via ign

In the two months since Nintendo's new console launched, gamers have gained access to several entertaining and informative Wii Channels, or simple downloadable programs -- very much like widgets -- that open up new functionalities. The Mii, Photo and Shop Channels shipped with the platform and provided users the option to create virtual versions of themselves as well as their friends and family; store, edit and send photos to friends; and browse through a catalog of downloadable classics respectively. Since then, the Big N has added the Forecast Channel, which provides semi-live weather updates; the Internet Channel, a full-fledged Wii version of the Opera web browser; and most recently, the News Channel, which provides users a gateway to the latest Associated Press headlines from around the world.

Wii's innovative new controller has already captivated millions of gamers, but clearly the Channels interface is also providing reasons for the hardcore and casual user alike to boot up their system on a daily basis. Nintendo itself has indicated that more Wii Channels will be forthcoming, but it has yet to offer specifics. And therefore we're here to fill in the gaps. Taking Nintendo's own model to heart, we've thought about some of the widget-like additions to the Wii Channels interface that would make our mornings a little brighter and our evenings a little easier. Readers like you have backed our concepts with some great mock-ups to help visualize the possibilities. We're not suggesting that these Channels are currently under development -- they very well might be, but Nintendo isn't talking. We are, however, suggesting that they should be.

Wii Stocks Channel
Nintendo is quite obviously hoping to capture more non-gamers with its Wii Channels. The News Channel grabs the latest AP headlines and doesn't even feature a dedicated gaming feed of news. Clearly, it's not targeted at the hardcore sector. That being true, why not offer a stock ticker interface that enables users to monitor their portfolios online?

There's nothing like a cup of coffee, some news, a bit of weather, and some stock watching, we say. Or, we would if we owned stock in anything besides Enron -- d'oh! The Wii Stocks Channel could easily monitor your hottest stocks, feature a symbol search, show rises and drops in performance, and display more detailed info at a click. Little Billy might ignore this feature as though it were a sequel to Cosmic Race, but moms and dads around the world could surely appreciate it.

Wii Movie Search Channel
Not everybody has money in Apple, Inc. -- although, really, they should. That said, most of us do enjoy a good movie. Normally, we turn to the Internet to find movie listings and show times, but why not simply power on the Wii to gain access to this information quickly and easily? There's no reason why it shouldn't be a possibility, especially since there are already widgets available for PC and Mac that grab feeds of this data.

Users could simply enter their zip code and Wii would work with a partner like 777Film or Fandango to do the rest, intuitively compiling a list of local theaters and movie show times. A handy search function could even allow you to look for the latest showings of Halo: The Movie -- although we don't think you'd find many returns on that one just yet.

Wii Movie Trailers Channel
In a perfect world, the Movie Trailers and Movie Search Channels would be integrated into one big, beautiful offering, but we're realists and frankly, Nintendo hasn't exactly gone above and beyond with its other Channels. They all display useful information, but their functionality is also regularly limited. So, if a Movie Trailers Channel needs to be its own entity, no problem. We can live with that. But regardless, it would be very handy if Wii could download and display 640x360 QuickTime trailers.

And on top of that, we'd love to see Nintendo partner with Apple, not just because we are Steve Jobs' love child, but because Apple has the best movie trailers website on the Internet, period. Currently, Wii does not playback QuickTime movies so future compatibility would rest upon a firmware update.

DS Demos Channel
Sony's already offering downloadable PSP games through the PlayStation 3 online network. Nintendo needs to get the same thing going for DS and sooner rather than later. A DS Demos Channel seems to be the ideal solution. Users interested in gaining DS demos could simply click on the Channel, choose the demo they'd like to try out, download it to Wii, and then wirelessly transfer the preview to their handheld.

DS owners would, of course, need to remember that any transferred demos would go bye-bye as soon as they powered off their handheld, but even with the limitation, the prospect of being able to try new DS software before it officially hits retail is every bit as enticing now as it's been since the portable released. A Channel like this one could only strengthen the relationship between handheld ...

via reuters

Perrin Kaplan, vice president of marketing for Nintendo of America, said the Wii was also popular at family gatherings over the holidays -- including her own.

"For the first time ever over the holidays all the people in my household were playing together," Kaplan said. "I know it was a first for a lot of households."

Indeed, Marusin said he was floored by how the Wii caught on not, only with his wife and friends, but also with his extended family.

"My father-in-law, who doesn't even have a debit card, was bowling," Marusin said. "That was the big talk of the family."

John Sams, a 20-year-old student in Greenville, South Carolina, said he knew the Wii would be provide a new opportunity for socializing before it even became available. As a result, he and his brother, Indy, 22, started a Web site to link up people interested in Wii gaming parties in their area.

The site, http://www.wiiparty.net, has about 150 registered members and Sams said he has met several people through the site who have attended Wii parties at his apartment.

He now has friends and classmates over to play games like "Red Steel" and "Excite Truck" at least four times a week.

"I became famous for it," Sams said.

Recently, a man sent to repair his building's security system even joined in on the fun.

"He wanted to play, so he stayed for about 30 minutes before his cell phone went off," Sams said. ...

via marketwatch

SCE is expected to reveal a package of PSP online services in mid-March, with analysts expecting the tie-ups to involve at least one big ISP, such as Yahoo.
The move is part of efforts by Sony to shore up its games division, which is suffering worse-than-expected losses from its PlayStation 3 console.
Nobuyuki Oneda, Sony's chief financial officer, told the Financial Times that restoring the games division to break-even was crucial to achieving the promise of Sir Howard Stringer, chairman, of group margins of 5 per cent by the end of this financial year.
Analysts expect the PSP business tie-ups to promote the PSP as a more user-friendly device capable of downloading films, television shows and back-catalogue PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games. The changes could allow users to download games and other content anywhere the PSP can be connected to a WiFi network. Although the PSP is already technically capable of downloading and storing online content, such as games, the services have not appealed to mainstream users. A tie-up with a well-known internet brand or television company, said one Nomura analyst, could change that.
Mr Oneda acknowledged that the PSP's recent performance had been a cause for concern, with software sales a particular disappointment. "It was pretty much a competition issue with the Nintendo so we have to fight back by introducing more attractive applications [for the PSP] by using the network," he said.
Mr Oneda's comments come as PSP shipments have fallen far behind those of the Nintendo DS, which was launched in December 2004, the same month as the PSP, and has achieved strong growth among non-traditional gamers. To date, the PSP has shipped 24m units globally, against worldwide DS sales of 35m.
Sony's new plan is part of its changing approach to consumer electronics. Mr Oneda said that, in future, the company would offer "no single product to lead consumer electronics" but instead would concentrate on developing networked devices and creating networks in the home. "The trend is towards high definition and internet connectivity. Those are what we will shoot for in the future."
Mr Oneda explained the importance of pulling the games division back into the black. If it could break even and the film and finance businesses retained their present margins, the improving conditions of the electronics business and its 70 per cent contribution to group-wide margin levels would be enough to meet the March 2008 target of 5 per cent margins, he said.
"I have some confidence we can achieve this," he said ...

via spong

SPOnG informed you yesterday of the possibility of the ‘return of the rumble’ in the PS3’s Sixaxis controller, if recent claims from third party hardware manufacturer, Splitfish are to be believed.

Splitfish claim to have developed a “low-power consumption” technology called SensorFX which “uses no moving parts to produce meaningful sensory feedback. A broad range of intensity and sensation compliment the ability to derive feedback sensations from isolated areas on the controller, to isolate one side or the other, movement from front to back or all areas at the same time.”

However, 1Up approached Sony’s US office to find out what the latest deal was with SIXAXIS rumble? Could SplitFish provide a way around Sony’s legal issues with Immersion in this area?

Apparently not. A spokesperson told 1Up, “We have had no contact with this company and continue to have no plans to include FF [force feedback] in SIXAXIS.” ...

When Sony released their fiscal Q3 (Oct. - Dec. '06) financial results recently, most of the focus was on the PS3 and how the costs of its launch contributed to a massive loss for Sony's games unit. But, as the UK's Pocket Gamer points out, a massive slowdown in PSP shipments worldwide is probably just as worrying for the company.

In the three month holiday period, Sony shipped just 1.46 million PSP units worldwide, a nearly 72 percent decrease from the 6.22 million units shipped during the same period a year ago. Broken down territorially, Europe and Japan each got roughly 900,000 systems while North America saw only an anemic 10,000 PSP units shipped in the three month period (no, that isn't a typo). For comparison, Reuters reported in November that Nintendo planned to ship 1.5 million DS units to Japan in December alone.

But not all is doom and gloom in the Sony numbers. NPD data from December showed relatively healthy sales of nearly a million PSPs in North America, suggesting that Sony slowed North American shipments to let retailers sell off some of the 2 million systems shipped during the summer months. And despite the slowing hardware shipments, PSP software shipments actually rose 20 percent to 21.2 million units worldwide for the holiday season. Still, it's easy to look at this massive shipment slowdown and see the tide decisively turning towards Nintendo in the portable market share battle.

via joystiq ...