Editorials

After the Wii U preview event, mixed emotions still arise

The Wii U preview event in New York City has come and gone, and now Nintendo has rolled out their specific plans for their next-gen console. A release date, price point, and TWO different SKUs were unveiled along with the promise of Nintendo’s new video service, Nintendo TVii. At the time of the various reveals, it seemed obvious that Nintendo was finally living up to the promise of a new way to p...

Video games insecure about their place in life

A couple of times each year, some no-name “study” comes along heralding video games as a trojan horse for brain development. Some of the more common headlines: Video games increase hand-eye coordination, video games give you ninja fast reflexes, and most recently, video games augment decision making. They’re all lies, of course.

Nintendo will need better casual games to continue their console war

As most of you have no doubt read, Nintendo President Satoru Iawta is concerned that the Wii is in an unhealthy state, and that it is urgent for Nintendo to recover sales momentum. This statement, coupled with recent numbers confirming this sales drop, has left many to point the finger at Nintendo’s Blue Ocean Strategy, which disrupted the video game market by bringing a wider audience into ...

GameCube tech demo does things Wii can’t

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZZWPlzN6S4[/youtube] Countless developers have cited the system’s inherent weaknesses, rather than their own effort, as the catalyst for poor Wii graphics. When footage like this comes along, one can’t help but wonder. Mined by the folks at Unseen 64, this tech demo was used in a May 2001 software development kit for the Nintendo GameCube. It ho...

Viva Piñata has rekindled my love for the DS

Months had passed since I last used my DS for personal gaming. It certainly isn’t because I’ve lost interest in the handheld. Recent releases just hadn’t sparked my interest the way older games did. Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise changed that, and I haven’t been able to put down my DS because of it. I received the game from the good folks at THQ to review for another site, a...

Guest Column: “Is Casual Killing the Core?” PAX panel

Infendo was lucky enough this morning to hear from a reader who attended PAX last weekend, and his on-the-scene reporting is pretty timely, given the gaming landscape today. “El Hajjish” attended the “Is Casual Gaming Killing Core Gaming?” panel, which featured Start Trek actor and uber geek Wil Wheaton, no less. If anyone can guess how the panel progressed before you read ...

Nintendo haters? It’s time to fess up, shut up, or grow up

It’s pretty crazy to think about it, but E3, with all its Wii Music-induced Nintendo-is-the-end-of-gaming paranoia, was about two months ago now. And, as predicted, the cacophony of rhetoric and vocal minority-driven criticism has subsided, only to be replaced with cold, hard facts. Facts like Wario Land: Shake It and Mega Man 9, which will no doubt revolutionize and modernize 2-D platform g...

Show me the perfect Nintendo game, please

If there’s one thing I would have loved to have seen revealed at E3 this week, it was a long-term memory for people who frequent the Internet. Something they could download easily and upload into their cortex. Nothing fancy. I say this because, by and large, the apoplectic reaction to Nintendo’s “sell out” press conference has been baffling.

Capcom selling Mega Man 9 with minimal effort and maximum fanfare

With each day and subsequent disappointment, I am getting less and less excited for Mega Man 9. To clear vernacular discrepancies, I feel there is a distinction between “excitement” and “anticipation.” For example, I was excited when I first saw Super Mario Galaxy. I felt the same way about the original Metroid Prime. These games brought classic franchises back to life in a...

Shadow of the Colossus proves that “good enough” graphics are still relevant

Does the above in-game screenshot look three years old to you? It shouldn’t (even though it is) because Shadow of the Colossus for PS2 is still one of the most impressive-looking titles to behold, next-gen consoles included.

The new Zelda will be a step backwards in time

While skimming the paper in the Infendo HQ penthouse this morning I happened to glance at my television, my laptop, and Shigeru Miyamoto all in the same instant (he occasionally makes us breakfast). On Infendo there was Derek’s superbly written expose on the most anticipated Nintendo E3 announcements; on my TV was the Opera Wii Browser, with Malstrom’s news page pronouncing the end of ...

Top 10 Things That Annoy Me About the Wii

Over the past two years the Wii, and by extension Nintendo, has enjoyed immense success. Massive sales, new avenues of consumer adoption, grannies boxing grannies, and soccer moms getting fit on a video game controller–it’s all here, and the impact is undeniable. Why then, I ask, am I still so annoyed with this amazing machine? Before I jump headfirst into flame land, however, hereR...