EDGE Magazine has a few scoops on their hands today, delivered courtesy of Cubed. Rather than muck ’em all up with commentary, here are some of the big ones:
- CNN has signed up with Nintendo as the provider of news content on tne News Channel in American and Japan. News will be presented by category, but another way of getting to it is by spinning the weather globe to find stories in different countries
- Sega has moved a significant number of development staff from PS3 to Wii over the Summer
- Although Nintendo has removed DVD movie playback from the Wii, it plans to launch in Japan next year an enhanced Wii capable of such a feature
- Nintendo intended to bring Wii to shop shelves in the UK and US for £150 and $200, but became influenced by pressure from the larger retail chains, which raised concerns over margins and low so-called ‘basket value’ (ie, the amount of revenue generated from a customer’s overall purchases at the till.
The news also includes revelations that there are still Wii Channels to be filled, as well as a prediction from Edge staff that Wii Sports will be to the Wii what Mario 64 was to the N64. Too bad about that Sony part though, Sega’s a solid developer. I’m sure it’s not indicative of an overall industry trend at all.
Well, Factor 5, a former Nintendo buddy, said they cringed when they heard the Wii specs and jumped ship to the PS3 for their upcoming title, Lair. According to EGM. So perhaps it's not a trend at all. Sega's usually more Nintendo than anything already, so it's not too surpirsing.
I think you'll see much improved 3rd party support for the Wii than for the previous 2 generations of Nintendo consoles. Sony losing developers is hardly surprising, either. If the Big N can truly secure broad support from EA, Ubisoft and Sega (which they seem well on their way to), the Wii will be a smashing success.