Culture
They’re always after me Zelda charms
Get yer geek on, Infendo, with these invaluable Zelda charms and necklaces! Word on the street is they’re officially licensed and will totally get you some action with Midna. I’ve bought ten already! She still hasn’t called though… there’s always Reggie, right?
NSider Forums, closing shop, and the Phoenix
Quick show of hands: Who here visits the NSider forums? Correction, who visited the forums, since Nintendo just made them read-only and plans to disable them indefinitely on Sept. 24? That’s right, I used the doom word in business, “indefinitely.” More often than not what that really means is “gone the way of the Dodo bird,” and that’s exactly what all the Negat...
Nintendo’s New World
One day, in the very near future I think, we may well all be privy to the land that Infendo contributor Malstrom now inhabits. I’d like to think that I have purchased the ticket, but have not yet stepped foot on the ship. Many of you who have read these epic articles might consider yourselves in that same boat, pardon the pun. In this the penultimate article to Malstrom’s recent series...
Regretfully overheard on pop radio
I heard a radio segment on Salt Lake’s 97.1 ZHT last week discussing video games on my ride home. Here’s what the “observant” deejay had to say on the subject: Anyone over the age of twenty still playing video games definitely needs to find something new in their life. Worst still, the remark was made in America’s gamer capital. Welcome to 2007, Radio.
No Wii Sports sequel yet, “too predictable” Iwata says
I don’t know if any of you guys and gals have been following this, but about six months ago Satoru Iwata and Shigesato Itoi, Iwata’s “old friend” from Hobonichi, sat down over take-out for an eleven-part discussion on Nintendo, video games, and everything in between. Today’s segment, “Don’t do the easy,” is something I should have read before posting...
Nintendo partners with cruise lines
If any of you blokes are taking a cruise in the near future (or retiring), be sure to check out whether or not there are any Wii Parties going down, and report back to us. I only ask because the system that is currently *not* expanding video games into wider, completely new markets is now partnered with various cruise lines and retirement communities. SeekingAlpha: Nintendo has taken notice of thi...
Is the future of gaming “pretty, but shallow?”
Is the excerpt below the future of gaming? Is this more proof that the “next generation” is really just a shiny bookend to the “console wars” and all that that strategy entails? Pluses: Amazing graphics, well-directed cut scenes, “bullet time” shooting sequences. Minuses: Shallow gameplay, not much variety, extremely short. I’m not going to say where this ...
Nintendo Spotting: PAX power to the people
Gabe over at Penny Arcade has a nice post-note to PAX up today, but the image above was too awesome to ignore here at Infendo. It sums up — I think anyway — the conference, the attendees, the atmosphere, and gaming all in one photo. Oh, and it’s a damn fine photograph in general too. These all-encompassing kinds of photos are pretty rare, so it’s pretty awesome that a video...
Washing the hardcore away
If this were December, and not the still rather toasty month of September, I’d say you should curl up with a nice cup of cocoa and enjoy this latest epic novella from Infendo resident savant Malstrom by a crackling fire of burning Lair discs and instruction manuals. But it’s not. But read it anyway. Every last word. It’s an epic piece on hardcore gamers (and much, much more), and...
Iwata: Nintendo must not be arrogant
Anyone who’s followed video games and, by extension, Nintendo for the past 20 years (like the entire senior staff of Infendo, for example) can tell you all about how the house that Mario built became rather arrogant in the 1990’s. It’s not tough to see why this was: Nintendo was enjoying immense success in the industry, and when kids wanted to go play video games at a friend̵...
How one mass retailer describes game consoles
I stumbled on an advertisement from Circuit City a while back and got a chuckle in how they described current-gen game consoles, namely the Xbox 360, the Wii, and the PlayStation 3. Not that there’s anything wrong with plain, familiar (albeit cliched) language; it’s just funny to read the following marketing copy from a minutia-obsessed perspective (read: us). Here’s what the ret...
Jam Sessions mini-amp spawns fit of joy, high kicks
Video gaming, alive and well? That’s what I thought when I saw Jam Session’s mini-amp today anyway. It’s also what I thought when I played Guitar Hero 2 for the first time a few months ago. And it’s what I think when I pick up my Wiimote/nunchuck combo and play Metroid Prime 3 (on advanced settings, obviously). Mini amps? Revolutionary FPS controls? Family rooms packed with...