Nintendo (3)

While we reported a week or so ago that Nintendo were not planning to release a successor to the DS anytime soon, there are rumors abound that they already have an update of the DS Lite ready to go. Supposedly the big N is just waiting for Lite sales to cool off a bit before they reel you all back in.

The redesign is rumored to be slimmer thanks to the loss of the GBA port, will feature bigger screens and include some built in storage. Presumably it will house some more internal RAM so that the Opera browser will work, but there is no news on that yet.

via Engadget

Nintendo have noticed the amount of time people spend creating Miis of celebrities, politicians and fictional characters, and have decided to support it further by offering a new channel called the “Check Mii Out Channel”, which is available to download for free at the Wii Shop Channel. George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications explained how the channel works:

“The Check Mii Out Channel lets people show off their Mii creations and vote on those created by others. It’s yet another way that we’re building fun, interactive communities of Wii owners without charging them extra for the privilege.”

There are a wide range of search function that will be available and if you like a particular Mii you can import it on to your Wii.

Ubisoft have inadvertently sung high praises for Nintendo by saying that they are aiming for “Nintendo-like quality” in their games for the next year. Quite a tricky achievement given the extraordinarily high scores Super Mario Galaxy is receiving.

Ubisoft’s CEO, Yves Guillemot was also extremely pleased with Nintendo’s winning position saying it “will actually bring more people into the industry”. CFO Alain Martinez pointed out that while you need to sell over a million copies of a PS3 or 360 game to turn a profit, you only need about 100,000 of a DS game.

Nintendo, The National Institute of Aerospace and Nortel LearniT have joined forces to use Pokemon as a learning aid to teach science. The program is aimed at elementary and middle school students and focuses on astral sciences. An activity component will even allow teachers and students to submit questions to experts in the field. Robert Lindberg, NIA’s President and Executive Director had this to say about the project:

“We are thrilled to offer educators a resource program that utilizes popular characters to enhance the learning experience for students in fields of study that will only grow more crucial as we move forward in the 21st century.”

This isn’t the first time Pokemon have been used for learning with the Pokemon Learning League taking many awards for its approach to teaching kids about Math, Science, Language Arts and Life Skills. Here is what George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications had to say about the corroboration:

“We’re honored to have our characters take what sometimes may seem like dry topics and help make them come alive for students. The collaboration provides an opportunity for children to learn 21st century science using 21st century tools with characters they’re familiar with.”

Lets hope it’s a little more Pikachu than Snorlax.

There has been much talk of a next-gen handheld coming out of Nintendo soon, due to their love of 4 year cycles. President Satoru Iwata has killed speculation though, stating that he aims to extend the functionality of the DS before planning a new console. He explained the need for console cycle change by saying:

“Whenever we have developed one hardware system, we start to discuss what we should do with our next hardware. In the past, we had a kind of common sense understanding of the video game industry’s platform cycles, like, say, 5 years for home consoles and a little less time for portable devices. I’m quite doubtful that such a notion of platform cycles can be applied in the future.”

The jury is still out on what new functions the DS is likely to acquire.

via DS Fanboy

Nintendo has announced a release date for the Wii Zapper in Europe. The Zapper will be available on December 7 for an estimated £20 / €30 - which may not sound terribly much for a game and accessory, but works out to over twice the price gamers will be paying in North America.

Bummed Europeans can take solace in the fact they’re not alone - Aussies have to wait another six days, and pay an even greater premium.

via Next Generation

On October 12, a group of 381 people set the world record for the number of people playing a Nintendo DS in one area at one time. The event was hosted by Nintendo and children’s magazine K-Zone, and supervised by an official Guinness adjudicator.

Something tells me that if Gabe and Tycho wanted to, they could easily organize the breaking of this record at PAX in 2008. What do you think, guys?

To celebrate the release of Pokemon Movie 9: Pokemon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, Nintendo and JB Hi-Fi have teamed up to gift Pokemon players with the (apparently) sought-after character, Manaphy.

Those interested need to visit a JB Hi-Fi store between 7-13 November with their DS and a copy of Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, and follow these instructions. To find a JB Hi-Fi store near you, use this site.

It’s been a prosperous period for Nintendo in the six months ending September 30, with the gaming giant earning a 132.5% increase in year-over-year sales to 694.8 billion yen (USD$6.072 billion). Most of this has been driven by hardware sales, which took in a staggering 452.7 billion yen (USD$3.957 billion) during the period. This was comprised of 7.33 million Wii consoles and 13.35 million DS units being sold worldwide.

Software titles which deserve a mention are Game Freak’s Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl, which sold 6.95 million units during the period.

via ShackNews

Nintendo of Japan have unveiled their 1seg Digital TV tuner for the Nintendo DS…and we don’t blame you for not having heard of 1seg before - it’s a Digital TV service run in Japan.

Read the rest of this entry »