Nintendo

Nintendo President: “Wii In Unhealthy Condition”

Wii sales are sliding in Japan. Nintendo wants to re-energize the Japanese market because the company is “beginning to look vulnerable.” New sales figures show the PS3 outselling the Wii for the first time in 16 months. The Nintendo Wii dropped 69 percent in the five weeks to March 29. According to Nintendo president Satoru…

Nintendo: DSi Sales Numbers High, No DS/Wii Price Cut

In a presentation in Tokyo today, Nintendo discussed not only Wii Sports Resort, but Wii price cuts and Western DSi sales numbers as well. Given by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata and senior director Shigeru Miyamoto at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Japan, the presentation covered more than the Wii Sports Resort release dates and reaffirming…

Nintendo Looking For A Few Good Testers

Want part-time work? Live in Japan? Like Nintendo? The company has just put up a job listing for testers. The trial period for those selected is two weeks, and the actual testing job is between 3 and 6 months depending on your performance. It’s possible to renew your contract after that. Salary is set at…

Nintendo: We Need To Re-Energize Japanese Market

The Wall Street Journal, following news of slowing sales for the Wii and Nintendo DS and a boost in “hardcore” games sales in Japan, says Nintendo is “beginning to look vulnerable” after years of success. The Journal is referring, of course, to the most recent sales data from Japan, courtesy of sales trackers Enterbrain and…

Analyst Cautions Wii Investment May Be “Fool’s Gold”

Investors looking to score some easy green on Nintendo’s little white console may be left blue, particularly if they fall for the “red herring” that is the console’s massive install base, says one analyst. Cowen & Company’s Doug Creutz says the Wii may represent “fool’s gold for someone looking to invest in video game development”…

A Eulogy For The Game Boy Advance

The arrival of the Nintendo DSi in North America, Europe and Australia brings about the first Nintendo handheld in nearly eight years that doesn’t support Game Boy Advance games. Who wants to reflect? MTV Multiplayer’s Stephen Totilo does, lamenting the symbolic passing of the Game Boy Advance. He calls it “the first portable I cared…

The 2009 Pokémon Video Game Championships

Do you want to be the very best, like no one ever was? Now is your chance, as Pokémon USA delivers the details on the 2009 Pokémon Video Game Championships. An excellent way to sell their newest title, the U.S. leg of the 2009 Pokémon Championships requires that players participate using the newly-released Pokémon Platinum.…

Snowbound Mini Ninja Screens

A ninja is at home in any environment, as evidenced by these frosty screens for Eidos’ Mini Ninjas for the Nintendo Wii, DS, and Xbox 360. The screens truly show the full range of Mini Ninjas, both graphically and size-wise. Mini Ninja Hiro and his companions, the giant Futo and the musical female ninjette Suzume,…

This Year’s Nintendo E3 Press Conference Is “About The Games”

Last year, Nintendo’s E3 press conference was a train wreck. Nintendo marketing exec Cammie Dunaway is upbeat about this year’s though, giving reasons why we should be excited about this year’s presser. “Well, because, I’m going to be up on stage presenting, something that your fans ought to love,” Dunaway told IGN. “But I’m not…

Don’t Get Your Wii Price Cut Hopes Up Just Yet…

Hey! Wii’s manufacturing costs are apparently down by 45 percent. Time for Nintendo to pass on those savings to you with a price cut, no? Nope, the UK got a price hike. “Regardless of the cost price of manufacture, the decision to raise the [Wii’s trade] price to retailers in the UK was taken due…

Tecmo: Nintendo Holding Back Fatal Frame

When asked about when Mother 3 would be coming to the States, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said that wasn’t his decision. Japan makes those decisions. If so, what’s up with Wii title Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse? When asked about the game, Tecmo replied, “Nintendo holds the publishing rights to ‘Fatal…

So, How Many Wii Games Are Any Good?

Picture the scene: your mum walks into GameStop. She walks to the Wii section, and picks out a game for your birthday. At random. What are the odds she picks a good one? Let’s find out! Just like they did for both Xbox 360 and PS3 games, market research firm EEDAR have rounded out the…

Nielsen: People May Buy Wiis, But Do They Use Them?

Entertainment research firm Nielsen have released a fresh set of usage statistics, giving us an insight into not how many consoles are out there, but how long they’re actually being used. There are all kinds of charts and colourful graphs contained within the report, but the key findings were: – That the PS2 is still…

Iwata: Wii Video Download Service May Transfer To DS

Nintendo’s video on demand service, planned to launch in Japan sometime this year, might not just be limited to the Wii. According to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, it may also come to the Nintendo DS. Iwata tells the Wall Street Journal that the advertising-based video service—currently announced for availability in Japan this year, but reportedly…

Breaking Apart The Nintendo DSi

While we know full well what the Nintendo DSi looks like from the outside, the handy folks over at iFixit have torn one apart to expose its steaming innards. Not that you’d have any real cause to strip your new Nintendo DSi down to the component level, but just in case the urge strikes you,…

What Ware Did You Buy For Your DSi?

Nintendo launched the DSi here in North America this weekend, and with it a batch of free DSi Store points for people to use to pick up a free game or two. Personally, I haven’t been all that impressed with the so-far small selection of games currently available for download, though the free web browser…

The UK Goes DSi Crazy

British people love the Nintendo DSi. When the handheld console, which is Nintendo’s third iteration of the DS platform, went on sale last Friday, the portable racked up big numbers. The DSi surpassed the opening weekend sales of the original DS as well as the Nintendo DS Lite. Regarding the opening weekend, The new portable…

The Waggle-Powered Wii Lawnmower

If you’re sick of using your Wii to play Wii games/gather dust, why not try something new, like this Danish guy did. And use it to mow your lawn. The University of South Denmark’s Kjeld Jensen has come up with the Casmobot, a robotic lawnmower that you control using the motion-sensitive accelerometer found within the…

Edge Recounts Nintendo’s Dark Times

Nintendo may be the console king of the mountain, thanks to its runaway success with the Wii and Nintendo DS. But it wasn’t always so, as Edge Online explores. Before the glory of motion control and touchscreen gameplay reversed Nintendo’s fortunes, it settled for third place in the console wars, delivering the sometimes spectacular, sometimes…

Wii Manufacturing Costs Down By 45%

We talk a bit about how both the 360 and PS3 reduce their manufacturing costs by introducing new technology. But what about the Wii? Well, of course, the Wii does the same thing. It’s just been less of an issue, that’s all. People follow that kind of stuff with the 360 and especially the PS3…