InvaderElmo

I think there are plenty of things they could come up with in the second wave that would be incredible sellers for the holidays. I'm hoping that Nintendo times things so that there is always a blockbuster title less than three months away. Maybe Galaxy in March, another hit in June, Smash Bros in September, etc. That way people will always be hoping for something.

It sounds like holding back on both sticks would cause you to block while running backward. I wonder what pushing forward on the d-pad would do. Throws? It would be very interesting if they did something like this setup where attack moves are independent from movement. It would allow running fireballs, blocking while running at your opponent (?) and other such things. It could also allow for more moves in general if sweeping up + punch was different if done while moving vs. jumping vs. standing still. Charge moves would be easy enough as well. One interesting thing about this setup would be that different characters could have different fighting styles that are represented by the moves the player has to do. What I mean is the player may have to do a lot of jabs for a boxing type character, or waving around in circular type motions for a magic type character, or chopping motions for a martial arts character, etc. If someone could pull it off it could be a whole new style of fighting experience that can only be had on Wii.

I really liked Strikers, but I thought it could use more depth. The game is best with more than one person on the same team. My friend would score the goals and I would act as his bodyguard- pounding every poor sap that came near him. I'll never get tired of hearing Peach scream as I slap her into the electric fence. What I would like to see is a stamina system, where constantly pounding enemies or running or super striking will wear out a character, and electric fences cause damage. That way you could have each character have different stats- some could have more stamina but less punch-power or speed, maybe one that can't even super-strike but has enough stamina and speed to run circles around other people. Possible "stats": Stamina Recovery Rate (how quickly you get up, recover stamina) Punch-Power Speed Aim (affects super strikes) Teamwork (affects passing of entire team) Ball Handling (affects steals) Maybe you could even unlock additional "outfits" that would change people's stats/grant them new abilities (immune to electric fence, quick stamina recovery, etc.).

Advance: The other "insider" usually talked about BIA 3 being for the Wii console, and also claimed Assassin's Creed and the new Tom Clancy were Wii-bound. I think he was making his claims off of that "leaked" release list. Big Tac supported him, though, saying that Insider knew what he was talking about. Insider got frustrated a while back when everyone pretty much blew him off and he hasn't posted since. While it is fun poking holes in BigTac's legendary claims here on the forums, and I poked my share of holes while he was here, in the end it does nothing productive since if he does come back (or is back already) it will be under a different name. There won't be any more "big secrets" for him to reveal after a few more weeks, and that is where he got his jollies. Hopefully he has moved on to bigger and better things, like his fabled job as a developer (who would hire a "journalist" to be a developer anyway?). People who thought he knew things will still think he knew things, and people who thought he was some poor misguided 40 year old in his parents' basement preying on the hopes of eleven year old boys will continue to do so. I'm just glad that the days of rampant speculation and phony "insider" blogs is pretty much over.

I don't think that the GT Pro Series games have ever been released outside of Japan. I think that Ubisoft found a racing franchise that was only in Japan and secured rights for everywhere else. On topic: I think that this game and Excite Truck will probably compete with each other, but since Excite Truck is a new franchise they both stand an equal chance of doing well.

This causes me to wonder what 5 games Nintendo could be announcing in Leipzig.

There is a hint that Ubisoft will develop a peripheral for their GT game as well. Plus the news that they have many more titles in development.

It looks like IGN wasn't kidding when they said they'd have all of Ubisoft's seven titles "very, very, very soon." Here they are: Red Steel (duh) Rayman (duh again) Far Cry Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII Monster 4x4 World Circuit Open Season (crappy) GT Pro Series (new IP, racing game!) They also said that they have "many more titles in development." Awesome. And... HOLY CRAP these are ALL launch titles!! Hit IGN for the details and an interview with an Ubisoft-type guy.

I posted that list of games from here without clicking each link to see what they said, so there may well be some games that aren't really coming to Wii. I would hope that Matt and Bozon would find time during this drought of news to keep things like that updated, but who knows. We should know fairly soon exactly what those seven Ubisoft games are, though, since ign's latest post says "For now, readers can make some guesses, but you better make them quickly because IGN will have the full story on these still-secret titles very, very, very soon." That's a lot of very.

These are the titles according to IGN: Midway: Blitz: The League (rumored launch) Happy Feet (2006) Ant Bully (2006) Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (early 2007) TNA iMPACT! (2007) Rampage: Total Destruction (rumored, but probable) UbiSoft: Rayman Raving Rabbids (launch) Red Steel (launch) Rainbow Six: Vegas (rumored, 2006) Open Season (2006) Killing Day (2006) TMNT (Q2 2007) Lost (2007) Not stellar, but it's good to have a little padding.

Not only will EA have 6 titles and Ubisoft have 7 titles, but Midway also have 6 titles (Mortal Kombat being the only one named so far). That's some good lovin' by the big wigs. I think it is safe to say that Wii is going to be a hit. (The Midway bit can be found on Gamasutra or 1up. It was mentioned at the same conference as Ubisoft's 7 titles)

Could somebody please add the word "Fake" to the title of this thread so that people don't have to keep posting about what games will be on the Virtual Console?

Aargh. And here I was trying to use this to deduce what would be on the virtual console.

Dante: Don't forget Duck Hunt. The dog is there laughing. And hopefully Castlevania since Kirby seems to have eaten a Belmont. It would also appear that the monkey and fox holding what looks like very small spears (near the bottom right corner) are from a game called Psycho Fox from the Master System. Also appearing is Bonk who is flying the Vic Viper from the Gradius games. It might be the ship from the Parodius games, though, which is the same ship. Parodius also featured the blue penguin mentioned below. Adventure Island also makes an appearance with Master Higgins and Wonder Boy. The blue penguin in the pile of random items is Pentarou from Penguin Adventure.

Did anyone notice that one of the hammer bros and a weird white guy in a blue outfit are both playing old school Game Boys? Is this a sign of things to come?

I believe I see slimes from Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest) games amidst the many blob-like creatures out there. Also a Simon Belmont-ified Kirby. I'd like to see him show up in another game *cough*Smash Bros*cough* There's a blue dragon-baby thing from Bubble Bobble (named Bob). I hope that Mog signifies some Final Fantasy love (that doesn't cost $20+). Plenty of Mega-Man love as well, it seems.

Why does it have to be November? That's a rather limited poll, there.

According to IGN this rumor was denied by those who know. No loss, though. The quote from IGN: The rumor started shortly after a Vivendi-held European games summit. Within hours, an overseas website was reporting that Crash Bandicoot would hit Wii sometime in 2007. We called Vivendi for clarification and it turns out that the rumor is false. During a question and answer session, a Vivendi representative was apparently asked about next generation development and replied loosely that the publisher was looking into all consoles. The rumor snowballed from there. A Vivendi spokesperson flatly denied the Crash Bandicoot Wii rumor, calling it "rubbish."

Great find. It should be noted, though, that the friend code system may still be a universal friend code this time around rather than different codes for each game. I believe one of the Nintendo gods had previously used the words "friend code" in conjunction with the Wii console, so it isn't too surprising. I think the "Wii Party" link is the most interesting find. Either they are going to release Wii Music as a game or they are releasing Wii Party. Personally I think it would be cool to see a Mario Party type of game with a Smash Bros. cast of characters, complete with unlockable characters. I realize that Mario Party has gotten very stale over the years, but it has consistently sold well and the Wiimote and a completely overhauled cast (and gameboards from Hyrule etc.) would definitely breathe new life into the series. Perhaps the name Wii Party is to let everyone know that this version is going to be different than the past iterations.

If the controllers can tell how much battery life is left then I imagine that the system could also be set up so that if a controller runs out of juice the game pauses. That would give you time to either put in some new batteries or just tell the system to sleep for a while until you get more. I also am glad that the system uses standard AA batteries, but I think a battery pack + charging system is going to be available either by Nintendo or by a third party. It may not charge during play, but I doubt people will have 30+ hour gaming sessions. I would love a four port charger that matches the style of the system and controllers. Even better would be a four port charger that doubles as the base of the Wii console so that the four controllers sit upright next to the console while charging.

They were certainly not terribly friendly with the PS3: Sony’s message is clearly that PlayStation 3 is not expensive at all, instead it’s a bargain. But this is rather like saying a Ferrari 430 is a steal at £127K compared to the Superamerica at £191K. We all like to dream but the full PS3 experience remains a stretch to afford, and tricky to justify given what Xbox 360 offers at roughly half the price. The game is officially on.

The Xbox version got about an 8, losing points (at least at IGN) for graphics, sound and a crappy fighting system. With the work being done for the 360, though, there should be a dramatic improvement in graphics and sound for all next-gen systems. IGN did state that the Xbox game "doesn't suck" and that "much of it is impressive." This will hopefully only get better for the Wii version.

Since we now know that Godfather is coming to Wii, and we also know that this is probably as close to GTA as Wii will get in the near future, I figure we should have a designated place to discuss Godfather Wii. If we look at the Xbox version we can already tell the basic plot, a bit of what the game will do well, and what needs to be improved. It would also be great to hear what people think the Wiimote would add to the game. Based on Godfather (Xbox version) reviews, some things stand out: Pros: Decent AI GTA-like expansive environment Good voicework Short load times Respect system Taking out businesses/other families Cons: Awkward fighting system No Al Pacino No GTA-like weird mini-games Missions less "intense" than GTA Fortunately, the Wii version should sport a completely different fighting system using the Wiimote's functionality, so that should be an improvement. I'm hoping they use the Wiimote to introduce some mini-games as well. With work nearly completed on the Xbox 360 version (it is due in September), there should also be a host of improved models/textures/whatevers that the Wii team can commandeer to ensure that the Wii version outshines the Xbox version visually. What sorts of mini-games/Wiimote functionality/improvements do you guys want to see?

Otona Fami (evidently the casual version of the Weekly Famitsu magazine) recently had a poll to see which of the 2 (face it X360 is dead in Japan) consoles people were interested in buying. Here is the short version of the results (stolen from here): Gamers (216 participants): 73.6%: Wii 16.7%: PS3 9.7%: neither Retailers (85 participants): 65.9%: Wii 18.8%: neither 15.3%: PS3 Game makers (33 participants): 69.7%: Wii 27.3%: PS3 3%: neither Female Students: 50%: neither 37.5%: PS3 12.5%: Wii Business women: 36.4%: Wii 33.3%: PS3 30.3%: neither Housewives: 47.6%: neither 42.9%: Wii 9.5%: PS3 While we can all rejoice in Wii wiping the floor with PS3 in most categories (all but the loss among female students and the near tie among business women), I think that one of the most interesting bits is the percentage of Japanese housewives that want to buy it: 42.9%!! Talk about expanding the market. I guess the physical activity coupled with simple yet fun games really does help to expand the market.

It is definitely good to see such support for Wii, especially that none of these titles (except maybe Harry Potter) could be considered kiddie. Having the Godfather on the Nintendo console would go a long way toward bringing in the I-heart-GTA crowd. I also hope that EA takes the criticism they received from already released games such as Godfather and revamps the weaker areas of the game. They could include additional content and improved UI, etc.