Smiter

OMG, they spoilt Reggie's surprise Xmas present to us!!11!1 Well, if this is true, then that's good to hear. (Of course, I hope that wasn't all Nintendo had planned)

As I said in the VC thread, this is disappointing news. But there's no need to panic. This does not necessarily mean that we will never see unreleased games in this region (Earthbound, Sin and Punishment, FF etc). Right now, NOE are just using what they currently have. As 3rdC said, it is possible for the games to be patched (but I'm not holding my breath). Why should they have to go through a lot of hassle and negoitations to get the developers to remake the games when they already have PAL versions ready to go? If NOE had to do that, the wait for VC titles here would probably be a hell of a lot longer. Of course, I'm not totally happy with this, I'm just trying to imagine NOE's stance and why they would do this. When the big titles like Earthbound start to hit VC, that's when we'll see if NOE will release them. In the end, the PAL games are still the same games we grew up with. It's not like they suddenly became worse.

I just read that as well. It is disappointing (but not unexpected), but I'm used to the PAL versions anyway - I grew up with them! I do still hope that Nintendo will still release previously unreleased games in Europe, just a matter of time. There is also the VC's ability to update games, but I'm not holding my breath on companies updating their retro titles. But this (and the possiblity of NOE being slow with launch titles again) has made me consider getting an American Wii at some point next year.

Japanese launch sales report in! Zelda not #1 Wii game! http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/749/749151p1.html 1.80 attach rate isn't too shabby. It is a little worrying some third parties did not do too well, failing to cross even 10,000 units. But Namco and Tecmo didn't do too badly. It's a shock to see Trauma Center placed so low.

Well, with Wii's firmware being updateable, maybe it's possible for Nintendo to add USB hard drive support one day in the future? If we're getting Wii demos online, we'll need it. :p

lol at the ebayer's sig indeed. I guess he didn't see anything against ripping people off in the Bible. (Just so everyone knows, I believe in God and respect all faiths - I just don't respect the people who are up their own arses.) Yeah, I ordered a Wii Play bundle and a couple of extra controllers online at Woolworths, just in case. I have a sneaking feeling that finding Wii Play and controllers in the local shops on launch day will be nigh on impossible. Ah well, at least my Gameplay bundle (Wii, Zelda, Rayman, VC card) is guaranteed for launch day. That's the important thing.

4 more shifts to go until my Wiikend. Just looked around Ebay, and I crapped myself laughing: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Nintendo-Wii-GAME-REMOTE-CONTROLLER-HARD-TO-FIND_W0QQitemZ110063208677QQihZ001QQcategoryZ91509QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Going for 59 of your British pounds. It seems even God-fearing people aren't averse to ripping people off. The same seller has a bunch more at £32 each as well (not including shipping). Who in their right mind would pay more money for an import controller when they can get one from the local shops and websites for £30 at most? Or even from places like Play Asia and VGP for even cheaper (providing you can dodge HM customs). Another seller (again from the good ol' USA) offers a Wiimote and nunchuck for "only" £79.99 (and £7 shipping).

Yeah, assuming that Nintendo did deliver 400,000 units for launch day, it's pretty safe to assume that total sales have blasted past the 1m barrier. There are "SOLD OUT" signs popping up all over Japan. Nexgen says 1.1m, but take that with a pinch of salt until we get some official figures. According to the site figures - which are estimates - Wii has outsold PS3 by three to one. Of course, it's too early to say which console will do better in the long term. Not sure how many Wiis will be on sale in Europe at launch, but I bet we break the two million barrier sometime in December. Hell, maybe even three million. Xbox 360 took a year or so to reach 7m. I wonder how long it'll take Wii?

Sorry to say, Play-Asia tested out their US and JP Wiis with a wide range of games. They found the Wii is fully region-locked, with no chance of JP software playing on US machines and therefore no chance of it playing on EU/AU machines. At least Action Replay plays imported Gamecube games on the Wii, and some Freeloaders might (but not the latest one - Play-Asia tested it and it failed). I'm hoping for a boot disc to come out. Although, I suppose it is possible that there might be problems using import games with WiiConnect24.

Ah, I know that, thanks. It's just that I heard rumours/reports that we won't get the Virtual Console at launch day. I hope that isn't the case. If we do get the VC at launch, I might pick up a classic controller for the SNES titles (if any). There's always hope that Nintendo might enable the internet channel soon (couldn't care less about news and weather, even if weather has a cool globe).

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/top/jpn-wii-launch-and-so-it-starts-218478.php Coverage has started on Kotaku. The Japanese are already queueing up.

I'm very interested in seeing how the Japanese launch goes. I don't know if they have any midnight launches, but I read the stores will open at 7am Japanese time. That's 9 hours ahead of us, so we could have information trickle through from 10pm GMT onwards tonight, maybe starting with crowd reports. I must say I'm green with envy at the VC launch lineup. I want Super Castlevania, Street Fighter II, Super Mario World, and Gunstar Heroes so badly. Especially since I never played SCV and GH. I bet we see Wii sales break the 1 million barrier within the next few days.

Sorry, my mistake. I thought you had posted a link to the main site index instead of the show's index. Yeah, the star gauge is distracting, I think it should be smaller. What is it with the Wii skate/snowboarding titles having huge gauges? :p I did play SSX on my sister's PS2 and enjoyed it, and I'm a huge 1080 fan. Seeing this clip makes me want to break out my Gamecube and play Avalanche.

1. Finish work at 8pm on Thursday 7th, buy snacks for my Wii marathon. 2. Go to sleep early (ha, as if I can). 3. Wake up 7-8am, shower and get dressed. 4. Read Kotaku and N-Europe to see how things went for the midnight launch campers, find out what NOE has enabled on the Wii (VC games? Shopping? Internet?) 5. Make sure the TV room is well prepared, a space set aside for the little white box. Wait for Gameplay parcel, jumping for the door every time I hear a van. 6. Wii GET! Tear parcel from courier's hands, scribble on the signature sheet, and bolt for the TV room, mad grin plastered on my face. Test Wii, make a Mii and play a little Wii Sports. 7. If there is time, tear myself away from Wii and visit town, hoping to pick up 2/3 extra Wiimotes for my family. 8. Get family hooked on Wii Sports and Rayman. I booked the weekend off work, so I can game to my heart's content. :awesome:

http://www.spiketv.com/#shows/gamehead/index.jhtml Here's the link to help you get to the episode list quicker. I agree about the site design, it looks cool but is so finicky - twice it put an entire PS3 show into my playlist because I clicked on the show title instead of that tiny "Open" arrow. Watched the SSX clip twice, it was hard to tell because of the low-res video, but the game seems to be shaping up nicely. I'm unsure of that huge star gauge on the right side, but as long as it plays like a proper SSX title... I'm not concerned about the PS3, all I care about is that the Wii gets a healthy supply of titles. :awesome: Add in EA's recent acquistion of a studio purely for Wii titles, and things are looking healthy for the little white box. Keep it up EA and Ubi!

I won't be going so far as to import phone straps, but I'll certainly check out the controller gloves when they come out at launch. Some actually look nicer than the American ones. If the straps packed in with the gloves look tougher than the default Nintendo one, then I might pick up a pack or two. Like others here, I won't be flinging the Wiimote about with reckless abandon, but I am worried about what others might do... Especially the kids.

Yep, 21stC Cowboy posted the link to a scan. http://gonintendo.com/wp-content/photos/88646_1164787772600_122_516lo.jpg You can just see a map in the bottom left corner of that screenshot below the top six (the one with the red Wiimote logo). Feels like there is finally a GTA-like game on a Nintendo console now. Apologies for the thread title, everyone. I realised how it could be read after I posted it, but my twisted sense of humour forced me to keep it that way. :P

Thanks for the scan, 21stC. The graphics are certainly different from the trailer, but they still have some cel shading on them. I really like the look of it so far. I'm not sure about the sword fighting, I would need to try it out and see. 1:1 would be a dream, but there are so many difficulties with implementing that kind of control (not least the fact that your Wiimote won't suddenly stop in mid-air when the in-game blade hits something). But they do at least let you do motions for the finishing moves, which should be really satisfying.

IGN just updated with new info on "Heroes", now known as "No More Heroes": http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/748/748014p1.html Sounds very, very, good so far. But I'm not sure about killing a high school girl - even if she is an assassin. Damn, I like the anime T-shirt idea.

I'm backing Ubi on this. They've thrown their weight behind the Wii, and I'm grateful for that. The launch window gamelist would be a fair bit lighter if it weren't for them. I'm not sure about Red Steel (will rent it), but I've preordered Rayman and am looking forward to many mad games with my family. As has been said before, it's important to remember Ubi had so little time in which to pump out all those games - and every single game was an experiment. Given more time, who knows just what they can do on the Wii?

I'm on the fence about Red Steel, but I would definitely welcome a sequel. I liked the game concept and style, it's just a shame that the FPS controls didn't get all the kinks ironed out of them. From what I hear about Far Cry's controls, it seems that FPS games (as well as other genres) can have a very promising future on Wii. Just fix the controls, Ubi, and garnish it with online features. That'll be perfect. The RPG elements do seem to suggest that Ubi want to keep pushing the boundaries, which is good.

Haha, I wouldn't buy those dog tags either. Truth be told, 90% of accessories are pointless/gimmicky/cheap crap. But I have to admit I would take a look at other Wiimote straps. I'm not about to start flinging my arms around like a madman, but the fact that the Wiimote is only tethered to your wrist by a flimsy piece of string is a little worrying... Especially when you know the kids (big and small) in your family will want to have a go on Wii Tennis.

I walked into GAME today. Bear in mind that I've been working overtime for nearly two months, and I haven't been to a single games store for at least that amount of time. Went into my local GAME to see if there were any cheap PC games... saw the Wii display... and I promptly turned into a 10-year-old, grinning like a lunatic and drooling over all the game cases. Shame there were no accessories displayed, I want to see if we get Wiimote covers and dog tags. Unbelievable that the launch is next week. We've been waiting for two years or so.

I just got home and checked my e-mail. Confirmation mail from Gameplay. I'll be eagerly awaiting my brand new Wii at home on launch day - and hopefully Zelda will be in the parcel as well. Happy days, now I no longer need to fret about my preorder!

Don't forget it takes time for the sales figures to filter onto the net. The PS3 sales figures are still being added up on nexgen, despite its "sell-out" launches in the US and Japan. On topic, if Amazon isn't your kind of shop, you can try general electrical places like Currys. My friend - who had planned on getting a US Wii before VGP+ shafted him - was able to secure a preorder there last week, and that Currys store only had a few names on their list.