Nintendo is coming with something BIG the 25th of February.

Nintedo has anounced a press only event at the Londen O2 not the smallest of places. So romours are starting to fly. ofcoarse we suspect to see games like Sin & Punishment 2 and Mario Galaxy 2 but that could have been easily shown the usual way. but now they make a huge event of it. So we do suspect something else, but what that might be remains pure speculation. Zelda Wii, Pikmin 3 or even new hardware? On a side note around that same time Nintendo USA will host a similar event in San Francisco.

Two New Pokémon Have Been Fully Revealed By Early Leaked Scans.

N-Europe somehow got hold of the new Fifth generation Pokémon! Straight from the CoroCoro magazine, which has itself confirmed the leaks are genuine. Welcome your first new Pokémon in several years below:

The critters above are Zorua and its evolution Zoroark, both Dark type Pokémon with the classifications of “Evil Fox Pokémon” and “Monster Fox Pokémon” respectively. The two will be starring in the next Pokémon movie, out this year in Japan, now confirmed as being titled: “The Ruler of Illusion: Zoroark”.

More info can be found on N-Europe.

Industry choosing iphone, abandoning wii?

I think the iPhone makes a difference in the videogame space in a sense where it allows the industry to re-invent itself. Let me explain to you why.

If anything over the past few months stood out to me in terms of news and announcements, then I’d have to go with this trend of big developers and publishers seemingly losing interest in Nintendo’s white box of fun and starting to show their love to Apple’s iPhone. We’ve all seen big name publishers statements, thought mostly informal, with regards to the slow game sales on the Wii. And where some developers switch to PS3/360 development, others turned to the iPhone (or both). EA, Sega, Capcom, Square Enix and others have all started creating iPhone games in one form or the other. Read more

Uploader Gets A Fine Of $1.5 Million For Uploading NSMB Wii

This person was allegedly the first to upload New Super Mario Bros. Wii to the internet, doing so on November 6, one week before the game was released (an act that facilitated creative works in addition to piracy).

Not only is this bad news for this one guy, it should also serve as a warning to other would-be pirates. “Upon the game being uploaded to the Internet, Nintendo was able to employ the use of sophisticated technological forensics to identify the individual responsible for illegally copying the file and making it available for further distribution,” Nintendo said in a press release. “On 23 November, 2009, Nintendo obtained a Federal Court search order in respect of the individual’s residential premises. This led to the seizure of property from those premises in order to gain further evidence against the individual.”

Seriously, guys, do not duplicate that disc.

Nintendo Japan Comes With the “Minna no Osusume Collection”

The “Minna no Osusume Collection” ( “People Recommendation Collection” ) offers the players the best games for a lower price.  How much? In Japan it ranges from ¥7,140 to ¥2,800 (roughly €55 to €21)

The games rate from platinum to bronze.

Here is the list of the first Japanese Minna no Osusume Collection games:
428 ~Fuusa Sareta Shibuya de~* (Platinum)
Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Gold)
ARCRISE FANTASIA (Silver)
Family Ski: World Ski & Snowboard (Silver)
ONE PIECE Unlimited Cruise Episode One Nami ni Yureru Hihou (Silver)
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Bronze)
Dragonball Z Sparking! METEOR (Bronze)

Europe and the US have no news about any plans from Nintendo up to now.

DSi XL Gets Set For Europe On 5 March 2010

This is what Nintendo has to say about it:

The new handheld console sports two 4.2 inch screens – 93% bigger than the screen on the Nintendo DS Lite. In addition, the new screens have a much wider viewing angle, making it easy for people to watch and share the fun.  Whether it’s encouraging family or friends to beat your score on A Little Bit of… Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training, solving the mysteries of Professor Layton together or simply offering ‘helpful’ backseat advice during a frantic race in Mario Kart, the Nintendo DSi XL opens up a new world of shared handheld gaming whilst breathing new life into your favourite Nintendo DS games as you experience them on the big screen.

The new handheld is a premium addition to the Nintendo DS family, coming pre-loaded with some top software:  A Little Bit of… Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training: Arts Edition, Dictionary 6 in 1 with Camera Function and the Nintendo DSi Browser, which enables you to easily access the Internet from anywhere with a Wi-Fi connection. The console is launching in two colours – wine red and dark brown, with a glossy sheen on top and matt finish on the underside that provides excellent grip when resting on a table or other surface during gameplay.  It also features a larger pen-like stylus, making gameplay more comfortable and natural.

The Nintendo DSi XL will feature the full capabilities of the original Nintendo DSi, which launched in Europe in April 2009 packed with features such as the ability to create, customise and share photos with friends and family, listen to and play with your music and sounds and download games through the Nintendo DSi Shop.

Nintendo DSi XL is the fourth member of the Nintendo DS family which is currently enjoyed by over 100 million people around the world.  It features the trademark dual screens and the simple-to-use controls that players have come to love, but will take your gaming experience to a new level.

Join in the fun from 5 March 2010, when Nintendo DSi XL is available across Europe.

Nintendo Gets Endless Ocean 2 Dated

Nintendo today announced that Endless Ocean 2: Adventures of the Deep would launch on Wii across Europe on February 5th.

The sequel to 2007’s tranquil, underwater exploration title puts players back in the scuba suit as six brand new locations are open to you, ranging from icy Arctic depths to the freshwaters of the Brazilian Amazon.

or the first time, Endless Ocean 2 also features Wii Speak support, allowing you to keep constant communication with your friends as you embark on some treasure-hunting together.

Analysis: Matt Matthews says Xbox 360 Software Leads as Nintendo Falters

Gamasutra analyst Matt Matthews looks at the changing U.S. software landscape as part of their November NPD analysis, finding that Xbox 360 software is surging into the sales gap left by a declining Nintendo market.

According to Michael Pachter, an industry analyst for Wedbush Securities, Wii software revenue in November 2009 declined 18 percent from the same time in 2008. The only systems to see more dramatic decreases were Sony’s PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable (PSP), which were down 69 percent and 21 percent, respectively.

But that’s not all,

After 12 months, the picture has shifted dramatically. As the following figure shows, software revenue from the Wii now accounts for under 30% of the market. Combined with the share from DS software, Nintendo now holds only around 40% of the market – a drop of 7 points from the previous year.

Be sure to read the whole article on Gamasutra.com if you’re interested. I sure found it an interesting development.

Nintendo WiiWare: Mega Man 10 teleporting down in March

Yes you have read it right Mega Man 10 is on its way and if you live in the US you do not even have to wait long for it! What the European release date will be is yet to be announced but good stuff any way.  just two months after Capcom starts releasing Phoenix Wright ports. What a wonderful time to have an Internet-connected Wii. Once again Capcom is really supporting the Wii.

We currently only know of two characters namely delightful Sheep Man and Commando Man. So the wait is now on Capcom to enlighten us with the new information.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii Play Together

by Tom Kerkhof (and Geert van Ostaden)

New Super Mario Bros. Wii (NSMB from now on) is basically the sequel to the original New Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo DS. The catch is, as we are all constantly made aware of by any form of advertisement Nintendo throws at us, that we can play this game with up to four players simultaneously. I know you could play four player games on the DS version, but you were never able to traverse through the levels of the main game with more than a single player. On this Wii sequel, you can.

And it is this feature, and possible this feature alone that can possibly make NSMB stand out from other platform games, or even Mario games.
I think it should be noted that NSMB is by no means a bad game – in fact, the single player is of that trademark, familiar high quality you’d expect from a Nintendo title – it’s just that it’s not what it was made out to be. For me, playing the game with four players isn’t as fun as I thought it could be – not by a long shot.
The main reasons for this are some minor annoyances that don’t do the game any justice and should really be fixed to make a better game. For instance, it is very easy to kill off your fellow players. I can honestly say it’s easier to kill them off then it is to truly help them. Now I would be the first person to admit that annoying your fellow players a bit is good fun, but it can really spoil the game in the long run. As such, I don’t understand why Nintendo made these settings both the default and without alternative. Were it possible to switch off some of the more hindering features, like how your character treats your fellow players as obstacles, or how the ‘death’ of your partners hinders your movement for a second due to its animation.

Then there is the bubble. I would love the bubble, were it not for the fact that it is sometimes too easy to accidentally activate it. Also, being able to save yourself as long as your partner is fine, perhaps makes the game a tad too easy, a feat its predecessor suffered from. As it stands, I merely like the idea of the bubble.

Of course, most of these problems are mostly absent in the versus (or ‘Coin’) mode, where the only objective is to collect as many coins as possible to win. In this mode, it’s a free-for-all and each player is allowed to hinder the other players as much as they can. However, the goal in this game is perhaps unsuited for this kind of game play. There is no way to ‘steal’ other players’ coins; you just have to collect as many coins as you possibly can. In some levels, it is thus very hard to stop players who already managed to collect enough – or many – coins. A shame, really, since I would bet some good money on this mode being an absolute hit, had it been refined a bit more.

In the end, this mostly means I think NSMB disappointed me a little. I though the concept of playing a classic Mario game would be a unbelievably good one, but it turns out it is merely a mildly entertaining one (or possibly an annoyingly frustrating one). Had Nintendo fixed some of the problems I listed before, then perhaps the game would have been great. In that case, I would even forgive the game its complete lack of any online support, a feature I think is sorely missed in a game of this day and age, especially when it tries to profile itself as a multiplayer game.

What remains is the excellent single player that takes elements from many classic Mario games and, like its predecessor, is an excellent addition to the library of Mario games. Admitted, it lacks the ‘fresh’ feel of its cousin on the DS, but it still has everything you loved about Mario. I just really miss the Multiplayer mode that could be so awesome, but even that mode is at least enjoyable, so in the end NSMB turned out to be a fine addition to the Wii library.

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