news via ars

One of the Imperial Wii units has been stuck with a nasty problem. Seems that although we could connect using WiFi to Nintendo and grab system updates, we could not connect to the Wii store in order to view the EULA that's necessary before buying virtual console games. Every time we tried, we received error 220602.

When we called Nintendo, they had no idea what the problem was all about. The suggested the following, which you should try, too: a) changing your WiFi router to channel 1 or 11, and b) moving your Wii closer to the router. For many people, this is a solution. For us, it wasn't.

It looks like Nintendo may not be at fault for this error, as some snooping about led us to realize that the real issue was a crappy DNS server. It seems as though the various hostnames Nintendo is using haven't fully propagated throughout the 'net, even several days after launch. After talking with some support specialists, it looks like this DNS problem is affecting pockets of users here and there.

In Wii Settings you can adjust your Internet connection and manually specify a new DNS server, if you wish. We took a different route, and changed the DNS servers on our WiFi router. From what we can tell, the Wii will use whatever is set as your Primary DNS, or DNS 1. It was enough for us to swap our primary and secondary DNS. You may have to set out in search of another DNS server to use, at least temporarily, until the DNS propagation is complete (surely by the end of this week). ...

BrandIntel, a leader in consumer and market intelligence solutions, today released a new tracking study on the top video gaming consoles, including Sony PlayStation®3 (PS3), Nintendo® Wii and Microsoft® Xbox 360 (X360). The BrandIntel report, titled "Top Gaming Consoles Report," found Nintendo Wii ranks first heading into the holiday season due to its intuitive controller and lower cost. With Wii and PS3 now released, BrandIntel will provide weekly online updates throughout the holiday season to track how sentiment and discussion share may shift as consumers begin using the consoles. Today's report follows BrandIntel's recently announced "Top 50 Games Report," in which the company tracked and analyzed the top new games for PS3, Nintendo Wii and X360.

Based on analysis of original consumer-generated content, the "Top Gaming Consoles Report" captures data from January 1, 2006 to November 12, 2006. Additional key findings from the study include:

-- In general, consumers are complaining about the PS3's price, raving
about the Wii's controller and satisfied with the X360's first year on the
market.
-- Gamers are also heavily anticipating popular Nintendo franchise games
such as "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess," as well as newer titles
such as "Red Steel."
-- The X360 is generating the least amount of discussion but benefits
from a year head start and established consumer base that discusses the
console in a positive manner. Because of this, it currently ranks second
among next-gen consoles for the holiday season.
-- The PS3 currently ranks the lowest according to consumer discussion.
While the PS3 has generated the most discussion overall, it has primarily
been negative concerning price and value. However, purchase intent has
recently trended upward showing marketing campaigns have begun to persuade
consumers who are skeptical of the PS3's price/value.


brandintel ...

BrandIntel, a leader in consumer and market intelligence solutions, today released a new tracking study on the top video gaming consoles, including Sony PlayStation®3 (PS3), Nintendo® Wii and Microsoft® Xbox 360 (X360). The BrandIntel report, titled "Top Gaming Consoles Report," found Nintendo Wii ranks first heading into the holiday season due to its intuitive controller and lower cost. With Wii and PS3 now released, BrandIntel will provide weekly online updates throughout the holiday season to track how sentiment and discussion share may shift as consumers begin using the consoles. Today's report follows BrandIntel's recently announced "Top 50 Games Report," in which the company tracked and analyzed the top new games for PS3, Nintendo Wii and X360.

Based on analysis of original consumer-generated content, the "Top Gaming Consoles Report" captures data from January 1, 2006 to November 12, 2006. Additional key findings from the study include:

-- In general, consumers are complaining about the PS3's price, raving
about the Wii's controller and satisfied with the X360's first year on the
market.
-- Gamers are also heavily anticipating popular Nintendo franchise games
such as "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess," as well as newer titles
such as "Red Steel."
-- The X360 is generating the least amount of discussion but benefits
from a year head start and established consumer base that discusses the
console in a positive manner. Because of this, it currently ranks second
among next-gen consoles for the holiday season.
-- The PS3 currently ranks the lowest according to consumer discussion.
While the PS3 has generated the most discussion overall, it has primarily
been negative concerning price and value. However, purchase intent has
recently trended upward showing marketing campaigns have begun to persuade
consumers who are skeptical of the PS3's price/value.


brandintel ...

BrandIntel, a leader in consumer and market intelligence solutions, today released a new tracking study on the top video gaming consoles, including Sony PlayStation®3 (PS3), Nintendo® Wii and Microsoft® Xbox 360 (X360). The BrandIntel report, titled "Top Gaming Consoles Report," found Nintendo Wii ranks first heading into the holiday season due to its intuitive controller and lower cost. With Wii and PS3 now released, BrandIntel will provide weekly online updates throughout the holiday season to track how sentiment and discussion share may shift as consumers begin using the consoles. Today's report follows BrandIntel's recently announced "Top 50 Games Report," in which the company tracked and analyzed the top new games for PS3, Nintendo Wii and X360.

Based on analysis of original consumer-generated content, the "Top Gaming Consoles Report" captures data from January 1, 2006 to November 12, 2006. Additional key findings from the study include:

-- In general, consumers are complaining about the PS3's price, raving
about the Wii's controller and satisfied with the X360's first year on the
market.
-- Gamers are also heavily anticipating popular Nintendo franchise games
such as "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess," as well as newer titles
such as "Red Steel."
-- The X360 is generating the least amount of discussion but benefits
from a year head start and established consumer base that discusses the
console in a positive manner. Because of this, it currently ranks second
among next-gen consoles for the holiday season.
-- The PS3 currently ranks the lowest according to consumer discussion.
While the PS3 has generated the most discussion overall, it has primarily
been negative concerning price and value. However, purchase intent has
recently trended upward showing marketing campaigns have begun to persuade
consumers who are skeptical of the PS3's price/value.


brandintel ...

news via computerandvideogames

Wednesday 22-Nov-2006 12:54 PM Pre-orders snapped up in just 7 minutes

It took ultra-keen Nintendo hawks just seven minutes to completely exhaust Amazon UK's allotted Wii pre-orders yesterday, making it the fastest selling product in the site's history, Amazon has revealed.

"The response was phenomenal", James Schall, Amazon games manager, told gamesindustry.biz. "It's the fastest-selling pre-order item we have ever encountered - even eclipsing Harry Potter and Coldplay." If you managed to get your pre-order in on time give yourself a pat on the back.

Amazon UK chose to take pre-orders for Wii only after receiving allocation figures from Nintendo, to ensure being able to meet all orders placed.

Amazon did not disclose how many pre-orders were made available, but said that it expects more consoles around the December 8 launch. ...

news via computerandvideogames

Wednesday 22-Nov-2006 12:54 PM Pre-orders snapped up in just 7 minutes

It took ultra-keen Nintendo hawks just seven minutes to completely exhaust Amazon UK's allotted Wii pre-orders yesterday, making it the fastest selling product in the site's history, Amazon has revealed.

"The response was phenomenal", James Schall, Amazon games manager, told gamesindustry.biz. "It's the fastest-selling pre-order item we have ever encountered - even eclipsing Harry Potter and Coldplay." If you managed to get your pre-order in on time give yourself a pat on the back.

Amazon UK chose to take pre-orders for Wii only after receiving allocation figures from Nintendo, to ensure being able to meet all orders placed.

Amazon did not disclose how many pre-orders were made available, but said that it expects more consoles around the December 8 launch. ...

news via computerandvideogames

Wednesday 22-Nov-2006 12:54 PM Pre-orders snapped up in just 7 minutes

It took ultra-keen Nintendo hawks just seven minutes to completely exhaust Amazon UK's allotted Wii pre-orders yesterday, making it the fastest selling product in the site's history, Amazon has revealed.

"The response was phenomenal", James Schall, Amazon games manager, told gamesindustry.biz. "It's the fastest-selling pre-order item we have ever encountered - even eclipsing Harry Potter and Coldplay." If you managed to get your pre-order in on time give yourself a pat on the back.

Amazon UK chose to take pre-orders for Wii only after receiving allocation figures from Nintendo, to ensure being able to meet all orders placed.

Amazon did not disclose how many pre-orders were made available, but said that it expects more consoles around the December 8 launch. ...

news via crunch gear

As many concepts appear. This is no different. Its a concept of a sword and shield attachment for the nintendo Wii. It would really give a in-game feel to Zelda Twilight princess.

screen via comment ...

news via gamasutra

Although specific sale results from the U.S. are unlikely until the usual NPD monthly data next month, Nintendo Canada has revealed the top five selling Wii games in their own territory.

Unsurprisingly, the best selling game was The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, with some Canadian retailers reporting an almost 1:1 hardware to software sales ratio for the game. The second best selling game was Ubisoft’s exclusive title Red Steel and, in third place, Activision’s WWII shoot ‘em-up Call of Duty 3. Sega’s exclusive Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz was the fourth best selling and Bandai Namco’s PlayStation 2 port Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 was number five.

In an interview with Canadian website Globeandmail.com, Nintendo Canada market director Pierre-Paul Trepanier indicates that the country saw a 100 percent sell out of the console during it’s launch on November 19th. "We're struggling to try and find a solution to a situation in which demand has far outstripped supply," said Trepanier. "The expectation was that within a few days Nintendo would still be stock everywhere."

According to Trepanier, every region in North America has been demanding more hardware, with additional nunchuck controllers apparently in particularly short demand in the Atlanta region. "We wanted that to happen eventually, but we haven't even kicked in our TV advertising yet," said Trepanier. "We purposely held back on TV advertising so that we wouldn't be advertising a product that you couldn't find in stores.”

Although no figures were given, Trepanier also described interest in the Wii’s virtual console as generating “higher than expected traffic". The retro download service saw two TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine titles – Bomberman 93 and Bonk’s Adventure - added to its roster today, after the format went unrepresented in the launch weekend line-up. ...