news via engadget



We realize there are still only a select few of you who actually have Wiis at this very moment (although those on the Eastern seaboard will have theirs in just a few short hours). But you might like to know that our Wii finally got its system update (huzzah) and is able to access the Wii store. The points are valued at a cent per, so 1,000 Wii points will set you back $10 US. Which is also what N64 games cost; SNES games will run $8, while NES and Genesis games run $5. Click on for a tour of the store!

view a full spectrum of images of the wii shop channel featuring downloads, applications, and features via engadget ...

news via engadget



We realize there are still only a select few of you who actually have Wiis at this very moment (although those on the Eastern seaboard will have theirs in just a few short hours). But you might like to know that our Wii finally got its system update (huzzah) and is able to access the Wii store. The points are valued at a cent per, so 1,000 Wii points will set you back $10 US. Which is also what N64 games cost; SNES games will run $8, while NES and Genesis games run $5. Click on for a tour of the store!

view a full spectrum of images of the wii shop channel featuring downloads, applications, and features via engadget ...

news via gizmodo

We're here in either one of the best or one of the worst places on the planet, depending on your perspective—Times Square in NYC. The Wii launch party is set to start in about 3 hours, and by my estimation there are at least 1,000 people lined up. Word on the line is that there are 5,000 Wiis inside the store waiting to be snatched up, so there should be a lot less violence and bloodshed come midnight compared to what we saw earlier this week with the PS3 frenzy. Check
back for more reports from this agoraphobics nightmare throughout the
evening. ...

news via gizmodo

We're here in either one of the best or one of the worst places on the planet, depending on your perspective—Times Square in NYC. The Wii launch party is set to start in about 3 hours, and by my estimation there are at least 1,000 people lined up. Word on the line is that there are 5,000 Wiis inside the store waiting to be snatched up, so there should be a lot less violence and bloodshed come midnight compared to what we saw earlier this week with the PS3 frenzy. Check
back for more reports from this agoraphobics nightmare throughout the
evening. ...

news via gizmodo

We're here in either one of the best or one of the worst places on the planet, depending on your perspective—Times Square in NYC. The Wii launch party is set to start in about 3 hours, and by my estimation there are at least 1,000 people lined up. Word on the line is that there are 5,000 Wiis inside the store waiting to be snatched up, so there should be a lot less violence and bloodshed come midnight compared to what we saw earlier this week with the PS3 frenzy. Check
back for more reports from this agoraphobics nightmare throughout the
evening. ...

news via c/net

LOS ANGELES--While the previous few days have been filled with headlines trumpeting the thousands of dollars some people have seemingly been willing to pay for PlayStation 3s on eBay, the same mania doesn't seem to be extending to the Nintendo Wii.

The Wii--which retails for $250--launches tonight across North America. And on eBay, one can buy the rights to one of the pre-ordered consoles for roughly $500.

Now, that's double the retail cost. Which, extrapolated to the PS3's top-end $600 price tag equates to $1,200. And in fact, PS3s are now selling on eBay for just a little bit more than that.

But pure numbers show that the buzz--at least in terms of what people are forking over to get their hands on one of the consoles now--is still in the PS3 column.

On the other hand, that could well be because Nintendo hasn't been predicting the kind of supply shortages that Sony did. Thus, it shouldn't be too difficult to find a Wii in the coming weeks. The PS3? Not so easy.

Anyway, this likely means that the folks lining up across this great land to buy a Wii might actually be keeping their Wiis. Unlike the PS3 queuers, who said, en masse, that their newly-bought booty was going straight up for sale.

Ah, supply and demand. ...

news via c/net

LOS ANGELES--While the previous few days have been filled with headlines trumpeting the thousands of dollars some people have seemingly been willing to pay for PlayStation 3s on eBay, the same mania doesn't seem to be extending to the Nintendo Wii.

The Wii--which retails for $250--launches tonight across North America. And on eBay, one can buy the rights to one of the pre-ordered consoles for roughly $500.

Now, that's double the retail cost. Which, extrapolated to the PS3's top-end $600 price tag equates to $1,200. And in fact, PS3s are now selling on eBay for just a little bit more than that.

But pure numbers show that the buzz--at least in terms of what people are forking over to get their hands on one of the consoles now--is still in the PS3 column.

On the other hand, that could well be because Nintendo hasn't been predicting the kind of supply shortages that Sony did. Thus, it shouldn't be too difficult to find a Wii in the coming weeks. The PS3? Not so easy.

Anyway, this likely means that the folks lining up across this great land to buy a Wii might actually be keeping their Wiis. Unlike the PS3 queuers, who said, en masse, that their newly-bought booty was going straight up for sale.

Ah, supply and demand. ...

news via c/net

LOS ANGELES--While the previous few days have been filled with headlines trumpeting the thousands of dollars some people have seemingly been willing to pay for PlayStation 3s on eBay, the same mania doesn't seem to be extending to the Nintendo Wii.

The Wii--which retails for $250--launches tonight across North America. And on eBay, one can buy the rights to one of the pre-ordered consoles for roughly $500.

Now, that's double the retail cost. Which, extrapolated to the PS3's top-end $600 price tag equates to $1,200. And in fact, PS3s are now selling on eBay for just a little bit more than that.

But pure numbers show that the buzz--at least in terms of what people are forking over to get their hands on one of the consoles now--is still in the PS3 column.

On the other hand, that could well be because Nintendo hasn't been predicting the kind of supply shortages that Sony did. Thus, it shouldn't be too difficult to find a Wii in the coming weeks. The PS3? Not so easy.

Anyway, this likely means that the folks lining up across this great land to buy a Wii might actually be keeping their Wiis. Unlike the PS3 queuers, who said, en masse, that their newly-bought booty was going straight up for sale.

Ah, supply and demand. ...

news via today.reuter

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - More than 1,500 die-hard Nintendo fans, some of whom camped out overnight, eagerly awaited the Sunday release of the company's Wii video game console, the latest entrant in the $30 billion global game market.

At the Times Square Toys "R" Us in New York, where a midnight(0500 GMT) launch party was planned, a line of approximately 1,000 gamers snaked around the block on Saturday.

More than 500 enthusiasts gathered for the West Coast release at the GameStop store at Hollywood's Universal City Walk.
Game Console Wars
Photo

The video game industry's own clash of the titans reboots this week with the midnight launch of Sony's PlayStation 3 and Sunday's debut of Nintendo's Wii.
Full coverage

"We have enough product to satisfy the demand that's anticipated," Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime told Reuters.

Instead of trying to steal hard-core gamers from Microsoft and Sony, which have already released the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, Nintendo hopes to expand the traditionally male video game audience by luring new players.

Nintendo priced the Wii at $250, compared with the $600 premium PS3 and the $400 top-end Xbox 360.

The Kyoto-based Nintendo Co. Ltd., which created video game characters Super Mario and Donkey Kong, has hooked girls and seniors with its "Nintendogs" pet training games and its "Brain Age" cognitive fitness title for its hand-held DS machine that is a break-out hit.

The device offers touch-screen and voice recognition capabilities that allow users to "pet" and speak commands to their dog or to write and speak answers to brain teasers.

Nintendo has taken a similar approach with the Wii.

'MAKES YOU FEEL IN THE GAME'

The console's computing power is dwarfed by the Xbox 360 and the PS3. And the Wii does not offer the lifelike, high-definition graphics its bigger rivals boast.

Still, the Wii has captivated cynical gamers with its one-handed, motion-sensitive controller that lets users simulate fishing, playing tennis or shooting a bow and arrow.
Game Console Wars
Photo

The video game industry's own clash of the titans reboots this week with the midnight launch of Sony's PlayStation 3 and Sunday's debut of Nintendo's Wii.
Full coverage

"That's what makes you feel in the game," said Sergio Gonzalez, 18, who along with friends Anton Stockton and Tulgat Vandandorj, has been at the front of the Wii line at a Los Angeles Best Buy since Friday afternoon.

Gonzalez and his buddies say they will not flip their Wiis on Internet auction site eBay.com -- where people are selling reserved Wiis at an average price of $605, according to eBay Market Research.

Waiting in line in Times Square, 17-year-old Xavier Herrera had the same plan: "I'm playing it tonight."

People who got their hands on the PS3 early also sold the system on eBay, reeling in more than four times its retail price.

Nintendo expects to ship 4 million Wii consoles globally by December 31, double the number of PS3s expected by year end.

Nintendo's last console, the GameCube, sold 21 million units globally to land in third place, behind Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox. The company sold 11 million GameCubes in the United States and intends to double that number with the Wii.

Video game analyst David Cole, president of DFC Intelligence, said Nintendo is offering a one-two punch at launch with its games "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" and "Wii Sports."

"I'm a 'Zelda' fan. I have to get 'Zelda'," said Isaiah Johnson, 29, first in line at Times Square. ...