Infendo
‘The games industry lost its way’ wrap-up
Infendo regular Invisibleman lays out a pretty solid explainer to complement our recent articles on the video games industry losing its way: I think Jack missed the biggest problem the whole entertainment industry faces today, not just video games but also TV, music, and film: the combination of higher production costs, the limit on how much they can charge for their products, and the fact that co...
Nintendo, with Wii, to dominate 50% of market in 2008
Oh, how the tables have turned, no? It seems just yesterday that Nintendo was considered a toy for children; an afterthought of he market; a pale shadow of its former self in the 1980’s and 90’s. But not today, it would seem, as investors get whipped up into a tizzy of big words and numbers when they talk about Nintendo and its plucky white console (and handheld). Analyst Anthony Arena...
EA likes Miis, promises won’t port everything to Wii
More EA news this morning, and it seems today they’re no longer threatening to port their entire catalogue to the Wii. Electronic Arts worldwide studios COO John Schappert: You’re not going to see every franchise taken to the Wii. Rather than bring the entire portfolio of titles, some of which won’t translate well, we’re taking those dollars and making original software. Of...
EA launches ‘casual games’ division
In another sign of the times, software giant EA has launched a new division, called the EA Casual Entertainment division, which according to EA will be dedicated to “developing and publishing games for consoles, PCs, handheld devices, and mobile phones.” Kathy Vrabeck will be president of the division, and said this: All over the world, consumers are playing games that don’t requ...
Top 10 DS Games
According to average review scores on Metacritic (in parenthesis), here are the top 10 DS games to date: Mario Kart DS (91) Advance Wars: Dual Strike (90) Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (89) New Super Mario Bros. (89) Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (88) Meteos (88) Elite Beat Agents (87) Kirby: Canvas Curse (86) Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (86) Animal Crossing: Wild World (86) See the complete list he...
Top 10 Wii Games
According to average review scores on Metacritic (in parenthesis), here are the top 10 Wii games to date: Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (95) Super Paper Mario (86) WarioWare: Smooth Moves (83) Madden NFL 07 (81) Trauma Center: Second Opinion (79) Mercury Meltdown Revolution (79) Godfather: Blackhand Edition (77) Rayman Raving Rabbids (77) Wii Sports (76) Mario Strikers Charged Football (75) S...
How the game industry lost its way (and how Nintendo could save it — again), part 2
Editor’s Note: First off, a big thanks to everyone who commented on part 1 (even some of the negative ones over at digg.com 🙂 ). It was by no means a perfect column, as I discovered upon subsequent re-reads, but I do appreciate that many people out there share my view on the industry today. Perhaps we can change it, if only just a little. For now though, onward and upward to part 2… Pa...
How the game industry lost its way (and how Nintendo could save it — again)
This is a post that, just six months ago, I wouldn’t have been caught dead writing. It wouldn’t have made any sense. Even I, a big time supporter of Nintendo, would have been confused as to why the writer (me) would say such unfounded and easily disputable things. That’s because this is a post about how the video game industry has been hijacked by a boys club that results in an e...
Japanese Hardware Sales (May 2007)
Bloomberg reports that Nintendo is outselling Sony in Japan. They say Wii is outselling PS3 by 5 to 1. Having a hard time visualizing numbers, and being inspired by Blake’s chart obsession, I created the above pie graph to illustrate just what those numbers mean. [The totals are for video game hardware only, so Sony’s plethora of other products do not figure into the equation.] Infendo...
Nintendo releases for the week ending June 9th
Here are the new releases for all Nintendo systems in North America this week: DS: – Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu – Nintendo DS Web Browser – Planet Puzzle League The DS browser finally makes its way to America and another Touch Generations title, Planet Puzzle League, is released. If the recent review in Nintendo Power is accurate, Planet Puzzle League sounds pretty good t...
Virtual Console Monday – Zelda II, Dead Moon, and more
Four new releases for today, including the 100th title added to the Wii Shop Channel: Milon’s Secret Castle – NES It is a world where music is the language of the people. An evil warlord from the north arrives and captures the castle. The princess is imprisoned deep within the castle, and the world’s musical instruments are taken and hidden away. ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Fun...
Super Paper Mario wallpapers are paper-like
Do you love Super Paper Mario? Do you have little two dimensional dreams about Peach and Bowser and Mario prancing about the ether of outer space with a little laser shooting octopus? Do you crave Super Paper Mario’s exhausting dialogue while at work or class? If so, then the official Japanese Paper Mario web site has something for you! Wallpapers! Yup, it’s a Monday all right.