Industry
No playable Smash Bros. at E3
E3 Lite will not feature any playable demos of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a Nintendo rep told Game|Life today. The 2007 release is still assured, however. Is this disappointing? Yes. Does it make sense? Also yes. Game|Life explains why (and I think you’ll start to see why this is not your daddy’s E3 anymore): Nintendo’s stance is that they are going to have an E3 with a very narrow...
GameSpot revamps review rankings – Is it good for Wii & DS games?
Starting on Monday, GameSpot will change their review system. They’re cutting their review scores down to whole points and half points. Games can no longer get scores like 8.7 or 7.3, just 7.5, 8.0, 8.5, etc. This basically cuts their scoring range down to a 20 point system. While it tends to force the reviewers to make a firm decision (this game is truly a 10.0, not a 9.7), I say whittle it...
Nintendo’s Blue Ocean bags another one: Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive made a pledge to the Wii last year, but now the wheels appear to be in motion for some console-specific titles. Strauss Zelnick, chairman of embattled Take-Two, said in a conference call: “To be perfectly frank, I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to realize what’s going on with Wii and DS. I will tell you that very quickly we turned to both 2K and to R...
Wii 2.0 — coming soon!
Take this news with your usual dose of Internet cynicism, but yet another analyst* said Wii 2.0 could be out in a matter of years. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter told GamesIndustry.biz that a higher spec, HD-enabled “Wii 2” could be on the shelves “in a couple of years.” Pachter’s comments were in response to those made by our old, misguided friend, SEGA execu...
Wii outselling “next gen” consoles combined
Just a quick update to today’s earlier post on the NPD numbers…If you do the math, the Wii is outselling the PS3 and the Xbo 360, combined. Software sales had a similar Nintendo taste about them, with 360 sales taking the bottom half: Pokémon Diamond topped the software chart with 331,000 units sold followed by Wii title Mario Party 8 (314,000), Spider-Man 3 for PS2 (249,000) and PokÃ...
Nintendo, the Wii, and the Black Swan
Slate.com writer Tyler Cowen tackles a new book by Nassim Taleb called the Black Swan today, and while I read the column I couldn’t help but think of Nintendo. Some might attribute this to an obsession, but once you see the points made by Taleb in his new book I think you’ll see I’m only half-obsessed.
Nintend-owned: Wii to outsell PS3 4:1 in May
There’s owning the competition, and then there’s owning the competition. And then there’s whatever the heck Nintendo is doing right now. Therefore, the competition — such as it is at the moment — has officially been Nintend-owned in May.
‘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...
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...
More apologies arrive for Nintendo
I doubt Nintendo expected the groveling and apologetic press releases to get this deep, this fast — but I’m sure they’re secretly loving every minute of it at their Ivory Tower in Kyoto right now. First, EA bowed down humbly to Mario and Company after the Wii’s stellar launch. Then, Ubisoft declared from high atop their mountain of cash (courtesy of the Wii) that they, too,...