Infendo
Nintendo checkmate? Not yet, but closing in…
Once upon a time, either here on Infendo or in the clandestine back channels of the Infendo staff offices (read: gmail), I predicted that in 2007, we would see one of the major print magazines like BusinessWeek or Wired run a cover story about the resurgence of Nintendo. It came a bit earlier than even my fanboyish self could have predicted. Fortune has a huge article on Nintendo up right now, and...
Ubisoft plays the politician
Ubisoft is in a great position now. They were quick to recognize the potential in the Wii and got a gob of games out for it in time for launch. A bit too quick, however, as many of the games lacked the polish and finish of some of the more robust Wii titles to date. Seriously, I think Far Cry didn’t even have an intro screen. It just started you off in level 2. Regardless, they made bank off...
Penny Arcade sums up Nintendo’s Media Day
The last post I’ll do on the now infamous Nintendo Media Day of 2007 is, fittingly, a Penny Arcade webcomic that diffuses (I hope) the situation with a bit of humor. It’s also a ringing endorsement for Mario Strikers Charged. Charged is quickly becoming a must have title for me. I’ve played soccer literally all my life; I’ve loved the videos of actual gameplay over at GameT...
Nintendo’s Wi-Fi at 5 million users — let’s keep it in perspective
My my my. What do we make of today’s online news? Seems Nintendo’s completely free Wi-Fi connection service reached 5 million users. To me, this represents the abysmal failure of the Friend Code system. Yes, class, that was sarcasm. But only a *little* sarcasm, not my usual levels by any means. I’m certainly not going to say these numbers mean Nintendo has a wild success on its h...
DS Lite – two new colors in Japan
Nintendo is releasing two new DS Lite colors in Japan. On June 23rd, Gloss Silver and Metallic Rose will join the five existing colors available in that country. No indication has been given if these colors will make their way to other territories. Personally, the availability of a silver DS Lite in the US would be extremely tempting for me. What do you think of the new colors?
Nintendo’s top five most popular online games
Nintendo announced in a press release today their top five most popular Wi-Fi games as follows: Animal Crossing: Wild World Mario Kart DS Metroid Prime Hunters Pokémon Diamond Pokémon Pearl What’s been your favorite online game so far, and what are you most hopeful for?
Review Roundup: Mario Party 8, Mortal Kombat Wii, Diner Dash DS
Here’s some recent reviews of new(er) games you may or may not be interested in: Mario Party 8 (66%) -Â “Played alone, against the computer, the game is barely worth popping out of its case. But, having even one other human opponent ups the fun exponentially–you just can’t get the same satisfaction out of trash talking against a faceless computerized enemy.” Mortal K...
Madden 08 on Wii loves online features
Game Wad is reporting that the following features will be included in Madden 08 for Wii when it’s released on August 14: Real-time ESPN ticker updates Online tournaments Worldwide quickplay multiplayer matches Promised roster updates not just for the 2008 season, but 2009 as well Mini-game party mode, with 22 mini-games Miis are used in minigames To echo the sentiments of Eddie Inzauto, R...
Did Nintendo just trump Xbox Live?
The Mii-specific Friend Code news from today has, expectedly, brought the panic prone and rumor mongering hordes of the Interwebs to a tizzy. I realize I’ve posted on it already today, but new information has surfaced that required I revisit the topic with some topical freshness.
Mario Strikers Charged goes online, and then some
Ok, Ok, Super Mario Strikers is already out in the Europe this week. I get it. But did you know its online component was adopted en masse faster than the German language was by France during World War 2? (a tasteless surrender joke, I know, I know) The Tanooki tells it like it is: For the week ending May 27 (yesterday), online activity for Nintendo WFC games was as follows: 1. Pokémon Diamond ...
Nintendo’s Harrison: Console lifecycles? Peshaw!
A smidgen of a tidbit of a morsel from Game|Life’s interview with Nintendo of America’s George Harrison reveals that the Wii could be disrupting more than just software libraries. The 5-year life cycle, commonly accepted by many in the industry as standard across all consoles from all time, could be next. WN: In five years, where do you see the Wii? In the US.
Nintendo media day: The gaming press gets left behind
Did anyone else get the impression that Nintendo’s big media day was kind of like one of those meaningless photo ops that politicians do these days just because they “have to?” (bear with me, I’ve been sunning it in the Outer Banks for the past week and I’m playing Infendo catch up today). From Game|Life: One longtime mainstream journalist who I spoke to was really di...