Nintendo Wii Fanboy

In a recent Club Nintendo interview, Reggie Fils-Aime and Shigeru Miyamoto both touched on some important things on the mind of all Wii owners. The first thing that many are still asking about is the lack of a hard drive. Well, Miyamoto commented that the company is still working on it and exploring all of the possible technologies, to which Reggie added that the company hasn't specified a traditional hard drive or another kind of storage, but will create a solution that is "better than what we have now."

Miyamoto was also asked about MotionPlus and incorporating it into future Zelda games. Miyamoto said that Nintendo was working on a new Zelda game (and also Pikmin), but would not comment as to each title supporting Waggle 2.0. He also commented that we shouldn't expect any new peripherals any time soon, seeing as how there are so many available for the Wii now. We're glad for that, because our limited closet space has meant that storing them all has been a big hassle.

So, the biggest thing to come out of this piece for Club Nintendo is more of the hard drive talk, although we guess we can't call it that, since Nintendo may want something different than a traditional hard drive. What other kind of technologies could they mean? What could be a comparable storage solution to a hard drive and yet not be a hard drive?

It's been a fairly long wait to see a hockey game hit the Wii, and we know many of you have been anticipating the sports return. Well, this week you get your wish, as NHL 2K9 hits retail shelves. Joining it are a couple of Virtual Console games and one new WiiWare game. Head past the break for the details.

We think one of our readers said it best.

When the game was originally announced, we thought it was going to be a train wreck, and these first screens of one of the minigames in MLB Superstars, Baseball Bocci, show that not only did the train get derailed and crash into a building, but that building was also full of babies, puppies and all of the most delicious candy in the world. We hate to be so harsh, but come on. It's baseball. Why would you try to combine it with bocci? Why?


[Via press release]

Some new screens from Tornado Man's stage have been released by Capcom and, well, it looks like classic Mega Man action. There's a screen full of deadly spikes that Mega Man must navigate, as well as that all-too-familiar close quarters combat with the stage's boss. By now, you should know what the deal is. So head into our gallery and check out the new screens.

With recent details dropping about the DS game, GTA: Chinatown Wars, the relationship between Take-Two and Rockstar with Nintendo was on the mind of the press. Take-Two CEO, Ben Feder, addressed the idea of Rockstar and its publisher bringing something to the Wii, namely its big franchise, Grand Theft Auto.

"Without commenting on whether GTA is coming to the Wii or not, Nintendo and Take-Two work very well together; Nintendo and Rockstar work well together, and we are continuing to grow that relationship," said Feder. He also commented that the relationship is not "one-way." He wants everyone to know that GTA: Chinatown Wars "is not even the first step, but an important step, in continuing to develop that relationship."

So, the substance to back this rumor is kind of light. Feder addressed the idea, but not really. When you think about it, though, Take-Two and Rockstar, as well as Nintendo, are in this for the money. And what could be a better cash generator than bringing one of gaming's most popular franchises to a console that has a humongous base?

See also: GTA usurps Ocarina of Time

Along with Jimi Hendrix and Ozzy (and other notable classic rockers), Sting will have his likeness featured in the upcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour. The original story over at USAToday.com has since been pulled (all we've got is this image to go on), so we can't find exact details as to what capacity he'll be featured (Will he be playing The Police songs? His own tracks?), but the screen above tells us the man will be rocking the bass.

Any Sting fans out there? Like his old stuff, or his new stuff? Or both?


[Via Go Nintendo]

It looks like the proposed takeover by Square Enix didn't take, as Tecmo has revealed they'll be merging with Koei. It turns out that this choice provides Tecmo with "a greater chance of boosting corporate value," whch basically means that merging with Koei wouldn't have the company swallowed whole by the huge Square Enix. They can still maintain some identity this way.

Square Enix isn't willing to call it quits, however. Their original buyout offer was for $206 million and they're planning to further investigate the terms of the Koei and Tecmo merger. We guess we'll be hearing more about this in the future.

[Via Joystiq]

Update: The staff have left the Game Night chat. But, plenty of people are still in there, waiting on you. So get in there already!

The week is almost at an end, which means it's time we pushed responsibility to the side and took a break from it all. A break which involves enjoying some gaming with our fellow man (and woman)! So, we're going to get together tonight and enjoy some online gaming. Care to join us? For all of you first-timers, jump past the break for the details.

See you all tonight!

For those of us who enjoyed unprecedented levels of excitement at the announcement of a Ghostbusters game, it's been a rocky ride ever since. First, we heard it was canceled, then the Terminal Reality boss said it would be published. Now, we just don't know what's up.

The recently-merged Activision Blizzard doesn't know what's up, either. That's why they're still considering what to do with the game and "reviewing its options regarding titles that it will not be publishing." This means that should the company decide not to publish the game, it could be sold off to another publisher. Either way, we just want to see it release.

Apparently, there's a secret recovery mode within the Wii that can be accessed through a special GameCube memory card. What's the significance of this? Well, don't you read post titles? It allows the system to play back-ups.

There isn't much in the way of information regarding the process right now, but the deal seems to be that when this GameCube memory card is inserted into the system, with a unique ID signature present, it takes the Wii into recovery mode, allowing the user to run basically anything. We'll update you all with more information as it's made available.

Update: It appears the recovery mode is only good for fixing "certain bricked consoles." Oh well ...

[Via Engadget]

Imagine our surprise when we heard that Nintendo of Japan plans to release Disaster: Day of Crisis on September 25th. After hearing barely anything about the game for months, including a no-show at E3 and PAX, we were incredibly doubtful the game would release this calendar year, yet alone at all. But, sure enough, the official Nintendo of Japan website has it listed. Right here.

So with a Japanese release ironed out and the European release date for October 24th set in stone, when can North America expect the game? We've contacted Nintendo and are awaiting word. As soon as we get it, we'll update the post.


[Via Wiiz]

With the Xbox 360 dropping in price later this week, many are looking at one of the console's particular SKUs because, well, it's going to be cheaper than the Wii. For almost 2 years, the Wii has been the cheapest option on the market, so how could this lower price affect the Wii's standing as top sales dog? Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian says Microsoft may see stronger sales, but doesn't "anticipate either Nintendo or Sony to match the Xbox 360 price cut."

The Wii is in good standing and really doesn't need to cut its price, so we're not expecting Nintendo to do so, either. But, if Microsoft manages to start taking away some of Nintendo's sales, we wouldn't be surprised to hear about a price cut early next year or, if sales drop that much, this holiday. We're not expecting sales to shift that dramatically, though.

Even though we're a few days past the holiday, there's still plenty of reason to enter our latest giveaway, which will award one lucky reader with a copy of MLB Power Pros 2008 for the Wii (retails for $30) from 2K Sports. To enter, simply leave a comment between now and Wednesday, September 10th at 11:59PM ET, telling us what your favorite baseball team is. We'd like to say being fans of certain teams will get your bonus points, but the winner will be chosen via random drawing. You can leave one comment per day.

There are a few things you should know before entering. Entrants must be current and legal residents of the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec) and at least 18 years of age or older. Read up on the rest of the official rules right here.

Well, our latest giveaway has come to a close and it's about time we crowned a winner. It was a tough decision (not really, we choose the winner via random drawing), but we managed to do it. Who won? It was none other than:

• comtar, who is a fan of Run Saber

Congrats to our winner and thank you all for entering this giveaway. Better luck next time!

"People ask me about Guitar Hero every day, there's no way I can escape it."

DragonForce has gotten a lot of attention, thanks to their song "Through the Fire and Flames" being included in Guitar Hero 3. But, what about playing the game versus playing a real guitar? Well, they each require a lot of practice, so they have that in common, and they each have their benefits. Does one help with the other, though? It looks like we're not going to get that answer anytime soon.

The video does say that future Guitar Hero games may include DragonForce songs, but, sadly, the video isn't embeddable, so you'll have to head over to YouTube here to give it a watch.

[Via Go Nintendo]