Nintendo Wii Fanboy http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com Nintendo Wii Fanboy http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/media/feedlogo.gif Nintendo Wii Fanboy http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com en-us Copyright 2008 Blogsmith, LLC. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Joystiq talks with Strong Bad devshttp://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/05/13/joystiq-talks-with-strong-bad-devs/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/05/13/joystiq-talks-with-strong-bad-devs/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/05/13/joystiq-talks-with-strong-bad-devs/#commentsFiled under: ,


Our overlords at Joystiq managed to snag an interview with Telltale Games, the developers behind Sam & Max and the upcoming Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People. They manage to get the lowdown on how long this project was in the works, as well as what to look forward to in each episode. It's an interesting read, so be sure to head on over there and check the interview out.

Gallery: Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People

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]]>strong-badstrong-bads-cool-game-for-attractive-peopletelltaletelltale-gamesDavid Hinkle2008-05-13T16:00:00 00:00WiiWare developer argues the case for shovelwarehttp://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/05/13/wiiware-developer-argues-the-case-for-shovelware/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/05/13/wiiware-developer-argues-the-case-for-shovelware/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/05/13/wiiware-developer-argues-the-case-for-shovelware/#commentsFiled under:



One of the biggest criticisms routinely thrown at the Wii is related to the amount of shovelware that has popped up on the system, yet not everybody is convinced that the likes of Pool Party and Rig Racer 2 are a force for evil. Chatting to Next-Gen.biz about his company's forthcoming Major League Eating: The Game, Mastiff chief Bill Swartz seemed to defend the wealth of filler software that appears on Nintendo's machine, arguing that a wider range of games will ultimately yield more gems, and that consumers are perfectly capable of making their own choice.

For what it's worth, we agree that bigger libraries generally produce a greater number of top-drawer titles -- the PlayStation 2 is a fine example of this trend -- but we're not so sure about the second part. Are consumers really educated enough about games to make a good choice? Game Party's continued success in the UK suggests not.
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]]>bill-swartzmajor-league-eatingmastiffminigamesshovelwareChris Greenhough2008-05-13T11:00:00 00:00My Life as a King co-creators on WiiWare challenges, ActRaiserhttp://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/05/12/my-life-as-a-king-co-creators-on-wiiware-challenges-actraiser/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/05/12/my-life-as-a-king-co-creators-on-wiiware-challenges-actraiser/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/05/12/my-life-as-a-king-co-creators-on-wiiware-challenges-actraiser/#commentsFiled under: ,


In their GDC presentation, Square Enix's Fumiaki Shiraishi and Toshihiro Tsuchida described the new direction they were taking with Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King. They discussed how they were shaking things up at their company by making a small, low-budget game with no elaborate cutscenes. Brandon Sheffield and Jeremy Parish spoke with the game's co-creators about the advantages and challenges of trying to make a Square Enix game under strict financial and storage budgets.

Shiraishi described the limitations as an inspiring factor for the game's design, and also pats SE's artists on the back: "I don't think we would've had this game design idea if we didn't have the memory restriction to begin with. Once we had the restriction, we had... all our artists are veterans, so if you tell them the size, they'll hit it right on."

Another (very) noteworthy offhand statement comes at the end, in a discussion of Square Enix's attitude toward the Virtual Console. When the similarity in theme between ActRaiser and My Life as a King came up, Shiraishi said "I'd like to make an ActRaiser sequel. That would be kind of fun." Yes. It would.
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]]>crystal-chroniclesfinal-fantasymy-life-as-a-kingsquare-enixJC Fletcher2008-05-12T17:00:00 00:00Miyamoto: Link's Crossbow Training is FPS Traininghttp://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/05/09/miyamoto-links-crossbow-training-is-fps-training/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/05/09/miyamoto-links-crossbow-training-is-fps-training/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/05/09/miyamoto-links-crossbow-training-is-fps-training/#commentsFiled under: ,

Now that Link's Crossbow Training is coming out in the region that matters (Japan), Nintendo has begun promoting it with one of their "Iwata Asks" interview series. This time, Shigeru Miyamoto is back in the hot seat -- and at the beginning of the interview, he expresses surprise that producers Takashi Tezuka and Eiji Aonuma aren't there as well.

Right away, the surprises begin. Describing his motivation for Link's Crossbow Training, which he sees as an introduction to the FPS genre, Miyamoto reveals himself to be an FPS fan: "I've always been into first person shooter (FPS) style games, 3D games in which you can walk around freely and see things from your own point of view. " He describes the perspective as "more comfortable, more natural," and then upturns the interview's tea table, saying that he originally wanted The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time to be in first-person.

Since this is an interview between Iwata and Miyamoto, you know that can't be the only awesome quote. There's a bit in there about explaining Link's gun use with a Terminator-esque story. You should really just go read the whole thing.
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]]>fpsiwataiwata-askslinks-crossbow-train...miyamotozapperJC Fletcher2008-05-09T12:45:00 00:00Man chats about his $15k NES gamehttp://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/30/man-chats-about-his-15k-nes-game/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/30/man-chats-about-his-15k-nes-game/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/30/man-chats-about-his-15k-nes-game/#commentsFiled under: ,

James Baker collects games, but probably not in the same way that any of us collect games. Baker recently coughed up $15,000 for one of the 26 gold-colored NES carts that were originally manufactured for the Nintendo World Championships in 1990 (only twelve are still accounted for) -- in fact, we're fairly certain that his is the cart we posted about recently.

Speaking to Edge about his latest acquisition, Baker confesses that spending so much on a single videogame is "pretty crazy," but also says that he "doesn't really see it purely as a videogame."

Not only is the guy richer than us, he's also a lot braver -- when he received the cart, he popped it into his NES to give it a go! "I didn't even need to blow on the end of it to get it to work," he said, nonchalantly. You better believe that playing such a game would be the last thing on our minds. Instead, we'd be handling it very delicately, and then only after washing our hands several times over.

(Fun fact: $15,000 would cover the cost of 1.5m Wii Points, which in turn could be used to purchase the whole of the current U.S. Virtual Console line-up -- more than ten times over.)
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]]>ebayedgefamicomnesnintendo-world-championshipsnintendo-world-championships-1990nwcnwc-90rareChris Greenhough2008-04-30T22:30:00 00:00Wii Fanboy Interview: Johnny Leehttp://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/30/wii-fanboy-interview-johnny-lee/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/30/wii-fanboy-interview-johnny-lee/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/30/wii-fanboy-interview-johnny-lee/#commentsFiled under:


In 2005, when the then-Revolution was unveiled, the hearts of Nintendo fans everywhere swelled with hope, but it took a Ph.D. candidate at Carnegie Mellon to begin to actually fulfill some of the crazier dreams the console first inspired. Johnny Lee's Wii remote projects have widened our perceptions of what's possible with the technology sitting in our living rooms, and even broadened our ideas of what gaming could -- and maybe should -- be. Lee is a magician, and we're not the only ones who think so; he recently blew the lids off smarter brains than ours at the TED conference with his cost-effective Wiimote whiteboard and head tracking demos.

But if you ask him, Lee insists he's just this guy, you know? And we did ask; in fact, we recently sat down for a talk with the Wiimote genius, and he dished up some pretty interesting tidbits on everything from the future of head tracking to his own recent job search. Before you ask, no, he's not going to Nintendo, but he may be headed back to YouTube soon for a few more project videos.

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]]>head-trackingjohnny-leejoystiqfeaturested-conferencewhiteboardAlisha Karabinus2008-04-30T10:30:00 00:00Miyamoto thinks Wii Fit could change family lifehttp://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/28/miyamoto-thinks-wii-fit-could-change-family-life/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/28/miyamoto-thinks-wii-fit-could-change-family-life/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/28/miyamoto-thinks-wii-fit-could-change-family-life/#commentsFiled under:



At first, we weren't going to post about Shigeru Miyamoto's Wii Fit interview with The Times, as it seemed fairly unremarkable. There are the usual platitudes from Shiggy about reaching out to all ages, and some tiresome examples of how mainstream press outlets still expertly patronize gamers (according to the article, the games industry "has long been the preserve of obsessive, nerdy teenagers, mostly called Alan"), but there's actually some interesting parts there also, tucked away amongst the fluff.

For starters, it appears that Miyamoto is an absolute hard ass when it comes to parenting. Well, not really, but the Nintendo legend does reveal that he's always nagging his kids to get off of their backsides and go outside when the weather is good. And this guy is trying to sell videogames?

More intriguingly still, the Nintendo legend speaks about how he hopes Wii Fit will have an impact on family life. As Miyamoto puts it: "In Japanese households, suddenly new conversations are springing up between fathers and mothers, fathers and daughters, talking about Wii Fit. We would love that to happen in Britain."

Can you folks envisage a day when your family time is dominated by talk of your BMI and hula hoop personal bests?

Gallery: Wii Fit


[Via videogaming247]
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]]>exerciseexergamingmiyamotoparentsshigeru-miyamotoshiggywii-fitChris Greenhough2008-04-28T15:00:00 00:00Revealed: Why Mario isn't in Wii Fithttp://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/22/revealed-why-mario-isnt-in-wii-fit/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/22/revealed-why-mario-isnt-in-wii-fit/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/22/revealed-why-mario-isnt-in-wii-fit/#commentsFiled under: ,



Had you described Wii Fit to us three years ago, we'd have gambled our entire gashapon collection on Mario, a man with a quite ridiculous number of pastimes, being on the front of the box. A title such as, ooh, we don't know, "Mario Workout" wouldn't have been out of the question. Not any more, though -- not in the age of the expanded audience. Nowadays, Mario doesn't have a divine right to appear in every vaguely sporty Nintendo game.

And we're glad about that. Not only do we totally dig Wii Fit's sleek, minimalistic look, but Mario is already in enough stuff, and even Mario's daddy, Shigeru Miyamoto, agrees with us (great minds and all that). As Shiggy explained to MTV's Stephen Totilo: "We wanted to create it so that people of all ages could look at it and feel it was for them. I think [including Mario] might have limited its ability." So including Mario might limit the appeal of something? How novel!

Gallery: Wii Fit

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]]>exerciseexergamingfitnessmariomiyamotoshigeru-miyamotoshiggytotilowii-fitChris Greenhough2008-04-22T16:00:00 00:00Miyamoto: Zelda team back in actionhttp://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/18/miyamoto-zelda-team-back-in-action/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/18/miyamoto-zelda-team-back-in-action/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/18/miyamoto-zelda-team-back-in-action/#commentsFiled under: ,

It's Shigeru Miyamoto speaking, so really we could have pulled any quote from Jeremy Parish's 1UP interview and stuck it in the title, or just said "MIYAMOTO SPEAKS: YOU READ IT NOW," but this is the most directly newsy bit out of the interview, which was ostensibly about Wii Fit. He denied that Nintendo is abandoning its core franchises (and audience) in part by saying "we do have the existing teams at Nintendo working on the kinds of products we've always made over the years. The Zelda team is forming again to work on new games! But to me, it's about finding these new interactive experiences and bringing them to people."

Miyamoto spent much of the interview talking about Nintendo's love of the "hardcore gamer." Interestingly, he sees the upcoming Japanese launch of Link's Crossbow Training as the opposite of the normal Wii strategy -- the first step toward getting Japanese gamers used to first-person shooters.
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]]>links-crossbow-train...miyamotowii-fitzapperJC Fletcher2008-04-18T10:30:00 00:00Harmonix was hesitant over Wii, now big fanshttp://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/16/harmonix-was-hesitant-over-wii-now-big-fans/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/16/harmonix-was-hesitant-over-wii-now-big-fans/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/16/harmonix-was-hesitant-over-wii-now-big-fans/#commentsFiled under: ,



Well, we finally know the answer to a question that's been floating around since before the Wii version of Rock Band was confirmed: when it came to the Wii edition, what took so long, fellas? After all, Nintendo's console not only sells lots, but it's also a hit with the social gaming crowd, who'd surely lap up Rock Band.

The answer is a familiar one, because like so many other developers and publishers before it, Harmonix failed to anticipate just how popular this Wii thing was going to be. GameDaily grilled Harmonix VP of Product Development Greg LoPiccolo on this, who manfully admitted that "when we made the initial decisions about where to place our resources, [the success of the Wii] wasn't as clear as it became in retrospect and really for us, it was simply a matter of resources." Or, to put it another way: Harmonix likes money.

LoPiccolo also confessed that Harmonix had been reluctant to hand over the development reins of the Wii version to a different company, and that the studio "wasn't comfortable handing much of the core off to others, because we wanted to make sure that it was everything we wanted it to be." Whether Wii Rock Band is everything we want it to be is still up for debate.

Gallery: Rock Band

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]]>eaharmonixmusicrhythmrock-bandChris Greenhough2008-04-16T17:00:00 00:00Sonic scanned and Unleashedhttp://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/14/sonic-scanned-and-unleashed/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/14/sonic-scanned-and-unleashed/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/14/sonic-scanned-and-unleashed/#commentsFiled under: , ,



The latest edition of the UK's Official Nintendo Magazine comes with an extensive eight-page preview of Sonic Unleashed, complete with gameplay details, fresh screenshots, and an interview with the project's lead designer, Yoshihisa Hashimoto. There's also new information aplenty on Sonic's darker alter-ego (dubbed "Were-Sonic" by the magazine). Apparently, this character only appears at night, can traverse stages using his longer arms (ONM describes this as "Donkey Kong-esque"), and is slightly slower (yet more agile) than regular Sonic. Oh, and he's not evil. Just ... different.

Speaking of being different, Hashimoto appears super keen to disassociate the game from more recent Sonic outings, insisting that Unleashed will have "more in common with the older Sonic Adventure games" and "no relation to Sonic the Hedgehog (PS3/360) or Sonic and the Secret Rings." Hit up French site Wiiz for the rest of the preview.

Gallery: Sonic Unleashed

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]]>onmplatformscansegasonicsonic-unleashedChris Greenhough2008-04-14T15:00:00 00:00UFO Interviewed on their upcoming shootershttp://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/14/ufo-interviewed-on-their-upcoming-shooters/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/14/ufo-interviewed-on-their-upcoming-shooters/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/14/ufo-interviewed-on-their-upcoming-shooters/#commentsFiled under: ,


Siliconera interviewed UFO Interactive's Michael Yum about their two Wii shooters, Heavenly Guardian and The Monkey King: The Legend Begins. We recently nailed down the release date for Heavenly Guardian (April 22nd!) and Spencer Yip tried to do the same for the horizontal shooter The Monkey King. Unfortunately, the release date is still somewhat in the air (and maybe being fired at by patterns of glowing bullets), with Yum able to specify only Q2, with a probable $19.99 price. The awesome news is that the U.S. version will get a "reverse mode" and a new exclusive stage1

Yum discussed the recent change in boxart for The Monkey King, from the colorful anime-style piece seen above to a cover with a less cartoony interpretation of the title character. He explained that "The American audience was just not aware of the Monkey King character so we felt that releasing the game after a new movie which I cannot say, would help people recognize the character." Presumably, then, the art was changed to resemble a live-action movie (probably The Forbidden Kingdom) a bit more.

Gallery: Heavenly Guardian


Gallery: Monkey King

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]]>heavenly-guardianmonkey-kingshooterstarfishufo-interactiveJC Fletcher2008-04-14T09:45:00 00:00Harmonix explains gimped Wii Rock Bandhttp://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/09/harmonix-explains-gimped-wii-rock-band/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/09/harmonix-explains-gimped-wii-rock-band/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/09/harmonix-explains-gimped-wii-rock-band/#commentsFiled under: ,

So it appears you're all pretty upset about the Wii version of Rock Band. And hey, we can't blame you -- we feel the same way! The reduced feature-set of the Wii game hurts, and like many of you, the lack of online play and DLC may well force us to purchase another version.

But according to developer Harmonix, none of this is really its fault -- nope, it's the Wii that's to blame, specifically the lack of a Wii hard drive. Quoth Harmonix design director Rob Kay: "[...] We need a hard drive. That's what we want. The whole problem is there's nowhere to store it. If the platform could do it, we'd jump on it."

Which is a valid point, actually. With single songs on other versions weighing in at around 30 - 45MB, the Wii's 512MB of internal storage would fill up quickly. We remain justifiably cross, however, at the missing online play.
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]]>dlceahard-driveharmonixmusicrhythmrock-bandChris Greenhough2008-04-09T17:00:00 00:00Wii Fanboy interview: Ready at Dawn's Didier Malenfant on Okamihttp://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/08/wii-fanboy-interview-ready-at-dawns-didier-malenfant-on-okami/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/08/wii-fanboy-interview-ready-at-dawns-didier-malenfant-on-okami/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/08/wii-fanboy-interview-ready-at-dawns-didier-malenfant-on-okami/#commentsFiled under:



Complaining about ports has become increasingly common amongst Wii owners, but few would have anything bad to say about Okami, which will complete its transition from PlayStation 2 to Wii next week when it launches in the U.S.

If anything, Okami is the perfect example of how porting games can be a force for good. One of the most notable critical darlings of the last few years, sales of the title were sluggish on Sony's platform, yet its appearance on Nintendo's console will give it another opportunity to attain commercial success. We can't think of many other games that are so deserving of a second chance.

Recently, Wii Fanboy got a chance to chat with Didier Malenfant, President and co-founder of developer Ready at Dawn, who filled us in on why those who played the PS2 version should return to the Wii edition, on how his company ended up working on the project, and on the future of lengthy adventure games.

Gallery: Okami


Hi Didier, and thanks for agreeing to talk Okami with us! First of all, we think there's a question that many Wii owners would like to know the answer to: what would you say to people who have already played the PS2 version to convince them to get this game?

I would say that they are part of an exclusive group of people because, as you know, Okami was one of those amazing games that unfortunately got a little bit lost on the PS2 and didn't do as well as everyone expected, despite off-the-charts reviews and multiple game of the year awards. This is a unique chance for people who haven't played the game to discover it and for people who have to experience it the way it was meant to be played, using the Wiimote controls.

There are also newcomers to consider, of course -- how would you sell Okami to them?

People who haven't played the game before are in for a treat because Okami is one of the greatest games of these past few years. It's got incredible depth, amazing visuals that replicate the looks of Japanese water paintings, and easily over forty hours of gameplay -- not counting replays, which then open up other things in the game. Okami is truly a milestone in videogame history.



Capcom approached Ready at Dawn about handling the Wii port -- what was so appealing to the team about developing a Wii edition of Okami?

It was a bit more complicated than that. What happened was that we met Christian Svensson from Capcom during a party at last year's Game Developer's Conference. He was a huge fan of Daxter, our previous game on the PSP, and we could not stop talking about how much we loved Okami and its art style.

A week later, we got a phone call from Christian asking if we wanted to do a Wii version of the game, and we pretty much said yes on the spot. Okami is a work of art, and we felt it was always meant to be played on the Wii because of the brush and mini-game controls. We just felt it was such an honor to take after Clover and finally let a big audience experience Okami for themselves.

Visually, there's little difference between the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions (though we really appreciate the game being in widescreen and supporting progressive scan!); what was behind the decision to preserve the visuals of the PS2 version so closely?

The visuals are the one thing most people remember when they see Okami, especially in motion. So there was no way we were going to mess with that and pretend we knew better than the original creators of the game.



Was it difficult maintaining the game's art style on a different hardware platform?

The rendering hardware is completely different, so we spent a lot of time trying to match all the filters that Clover had developed in order to achieve the look of the game. There were a couple of areas where we did not match it exactly, one with the 'paper look' of the game which is a little less pronounced on the Wii. But on the other hand, the game's visuals have much more color depth than on the PS2, because of the Wii's hardware. It was a balancing act all the way.

So many people have said that Okami is perfect for the Wii, and that it will improve upon the PS2 version. That's something of a backhanded compliment, but we'd like to know how it -- or if it -- affected the porting process.

We think the game is perfect for the Wii. It's so hard to go back to the analog stick version once you have played the game using the Wiimote. Everything flows so much better, and the minigames are a lot of fun using the Wii's controls. It's something you have to experience but it makes a huge difference.

Okami is revered by both critics and its loyal fan base; did the team feel any added pressure, knowing that they were working on a franchise that is so important to people?

What helped the most was the fact that we were all huge fans of the game ourselves to begin with. You don't take a game as beautiful as Okami and think that you can mess with it, try to add content that doesn't belong there or something. We have so much respect for the original game that we decided from the get-go that this was going to be a labor of love. The goal was to reproduce the experience as closely as possible. If it's not broken, don't fix it basically.



To date, Wii games that would typically be described as cult or "hardcore" haven't fared that well at retail (No More Heroes, Zack & Wiki). Do you expect Okami to buck that trend?

I think Capcom would beg to differ after their recent results with Resident Evil. This game is both hardcore and mature, two things people thought didn't associate well with the Wii demographics. I always like to think that great games, in the end, do well, so here's Okami's chance to shine like it deserves to.

Do you feel that long, expansive adventure games such as Okami have a bright future on the Wii, considering that a significant portion of the console's audience is relatively new to games? Are games of Okami's size in danger of becoming unfashionable?

I think that long games that keep you interested and have new challenges or content all the time are fine. Okami definitely fits in that category while so many other games try to add length by repeating the same things again and again. Again, to me it comes down to judging a game by its quality, not whether it's long or short. The truth is, if you really enjoy it, any game is going to be too short for your taste anyway.
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]]>adventurecapcomdidier-malenfantjoystiqfeaturesokamiportready-at-dawnChris Greenhough2008-04-08T16:00:00 00:00Iwata Asks: Mario Kart Wiihttp://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/04/iwata-asks-mario-kart-wii/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/04/iwata-asks-mario-kart-wii/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/04/iwata-asks-mario-kart-wii/#commentsFiled under: , ,


After Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii has become the latest title to appear in the excellent "Iwata Asks:" series of interviews. Featuring producer Hideki Konno, Wii Wheel project leader Kenichiro Ashida, and Shigeru Miyamoto (in fully relaxed, shirt-open mode) getting grilled by Satoru Iwata, it's a treasure trove of information for Mario Kart enthusiasts.

Alongside an enjoyably lengthy dissection of the series' history, there's also discussion about Mario Kart Wii's online play. The online matchmaking in particular sounds a treat, in that it allows players to join a race once it's finished, thus avoiding races becoming one-on-one affairs (as so frequently happened in Mario Kart DS). Players can use the Mario Kart Channel to check which of their friends are currently playing online, and even join them instantly.

Producer Konno and Miyamoto also explained the decision to include bikes in this game, with Konno admitting that his own hobbies influenced the choice, and Miyamoto stating that the bikes are there to "make the world of Mario a little more for boys [by] adding an extreme-like element to the game." (Apparently, the title was originally known as "Mario Kart X," with the "X" taken from "extreme")

Finally, we hear more on the Wii Wheel, and the reasoning behind it. As expected, the peripheral is designed to make Mario Kart more approachable than ever before, and project leader Kenichiro Ashida reportedly created "about thirty" prototypes (many of which you can see in our gallery). Oh, and he even made gold and black versions -- just for the hell of it. Do want!

Gallery: Mario Kart Wii


Gallery: The Evolution of the Wii Wheel

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]]>ashidaiwataiwata-askskonnomario-kartmiyamotoonlineshiggywii-wheelChris Greenhough2008-04-04T15:00:00 00:00XGen defends their work on Defend Your Castlehttp://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/02/xgen-defends-their-work-on-defend-your-castle/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/02/xgen-defends-their-work-on-defend-your-castle/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/02/xgen-defends-their-work-on-defend-your-castle/#commentsFiled under: , ,


IGN has a rather extensive interview, along with other media, for WiiWare title Defend Your Castle. We don't have to tell you how good this new downloadable title is looking, so when we hear the developers behind it made a conscious effort not to do a quick port of the PC Flash game and instead are working to completely overhaul it, adding in 4-player co-op and the new graphical style we all love, we fall in love.

XGen Studios, your chocolates and roses are in the mail.

Gallery: Defend Your Castle

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]]>defend-your-castledownloadflashxgenxgen-studiosDavid Hinkle2008-04-02T12:45:00 00:00Wii Fanboy Interview: Hudson's Mike Samachisa on Deca Sportshttp://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/01/wii-fanboy-interview-hudsons-mike-samachisa-on-deca-sports/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/01/wii-fanboy-interview-hudsons-mike-samachisa-on-deca-sports/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/01/wii-fanboy-interview-hudsons-mike-samachisa-on-deca-sports/#commentsFiled under:


As you all know, we've had our eye on Deca Sports for quite some time. It really looks like a fun compilation of sports. But, to sway any doubt about the game's excellence that we may have had lingering around in our mind, Mike Samachisa, the head of Hudson Entertainment's console division, answered some of our questions regarding the game.

Why wasn't Wi-Fi support added? What made them go with this collection of sports? What sports did they have to cut? Which is better: Wii Sports or Deca Sports?

Head on past the break to get a better idea for what the present and future holds for Hudson's Deca Sports game.

Gallery: Deca Sporta



Why localize to North America? Did you feel the product would be more successful in North America or Japan? Which audience do you think is better suited to the game?

Actually, Deca Sports is launching worldwide and it's perfect for a global release since the sports in the game are played around the world. Of the ten sports in the game, five are in the Summer Olympics, three are in the Winter Olympics, and two are X-Games-like events. Through our focus groups in all three territories we found that the sports included were not only fun and easy to pick up and play, but also in some instances, rare. Sports such as badminton, curling, figure skating, and archery were surprising favorites.


The parallels have already been drawn between your game and Wii Sports. Do you feel one offers something the other doesn't? Would you find your product superior to Nintendo's sports collection?

Everyone is a big fan of Wii Sports at Hudson. But what we found is that the game left many people hungry for more. Going back to those early focus groups we found that fans of Wii Sports wanted more sports and a greater single player component. We focused on building upon the fun of Wii Sports multiplayer and delivering to that demand.

Do you hope this will topple Wii Sports as the go-to sports collection, or go-to game overall, on the Wii?

We'd be very happy to be placed next to Wii Sports on a consumer's shelf.

Another game that Deca Sports is compared to is Mario Kart. Why did you decide to include the kart racing in your game and do you think it compares to Nintendo's game?

Man, you keep bringing up all these great games! Besides being insanely fun to play, Kart Racing balances Deca Sports out. Let me explain. Deca Sports revolves around team events. There are eight teams inside the game that are composed of five players, each with their own attributes. Some players do better in power sports such as Basketball and Volleyball, others are better at speed sports like Supercross and Kart Racing. Having events like Kart Racing really adds to the variety and overall decathlon experience you're getting in the game.

What other sports did they originally consider but didn't make the cut? How many total sports are in Deca Sports?

Wow, if I could only tell you the list. I'd love to talk about these more but we're already thinking about the possibility of a sequel in which we might include some of those sports.

What different control methods did you test out for Football (Soccer)? What was the biggest challenge there?

Soccer is one of three sports inside Deca that require the nunchuk and Wii Remote. We found that players needed the second peripheral to really be able to control the players on the field, on the court for Basketball, and on the ice for Figure Skating. With two controllers in your hand, you have complete command over your players as they move around and, in sports such as Soccer and Basketball, it makes it very easy to switch back and forth between players on your team.

Due to the competitive nature of sports in general, why didn't you include Nintendo Wi-Fi support for competition online? Wouldn't stat-tracking and playing games with your friends and strangers online be the perfect fit for Deca Sports?

We completely agree! At the time of development, this option was not open to us. Be sure to look for this in any future iterations of the game.


Finally, what is your favorite sport in Deca Sports and why?

I hope my friends don't read this. It's a toss up between Figure Skating and Curling. Figure Skating is really fun because you get to skate around, do spins, axels, etc. to music, and not have to worry about falling down on the cold, hard ice, which I would totally do in real life. Curling is an awesome party game to have friends over and play. The controls, like the other sports in Deca, reflect what people do when actually playing the sport. Bowlers and sweepers react very nicely and intuitively to the controls of the Wii Remote. I was surprised at how much I liked both of these games, though I don't think you'll see me out on the ice doing flips or sliding giant granite stones anytime soon.

Thanks for your time, Mike!

For exclusive screens of Deca Sports, be sure to visit our gallery. For more information on Deca Sports, try the archives or Hudson's official website.
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]]>deca-sportshudsonhudson-entertainmenthudsonsoftjoystiqfeaturesminigamesolympicssportswii-sportswiisportsDavid Hinkle2008-04-01T10:30:00 00:00Mushroom Men: The Aspect Ratio Warshttp://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/03/27/mushroom-men-the-aspect-ratio-wars/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/03/27/mushroom-men-the-aspect-ratio-wars/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/03/27/mushroom-men-the-aspect-ratio-wars/#commentsFiled under: ,


Live Wii conducted a five-question interview with Red Fly Studio, developers of Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars, and got one crucial, and vaguely disappointing, bit of information: as of right now, the game displays in 4:3 only. "Currently it is 480p. BUT we are looking into the capabilities of 16:9, if possible." 480p is, of course, welcome to fancy TV owners.

Red Fly couldn't offer any specific answers, really, to Live Wii's other questions -- except to say that there won't be any online play. That's not really a big deal for a platformer. There will be some kind of multiplayer, probably, and Mushroom Men uses the pointer in some way.

Gallery: Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars



[Via GoNintendo]
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]]>gamecockmushroom-menplatformred-flyJC Fletcher2008-03-27T13:30:00 00:00Wii success may lead to cheaper next-gen?http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/03/26/wii-success-may-lead-to-cheaper-next-gen/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/03/26/wii-success-may-lead-to-cheaper-next-gen/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/03/26/wii-success-may-lead-to-cheaper-next-gen/#commentsFiled under:

Looks like the popularity of the Wii might not be beneficial to just Nintendo, as industry insiders are beginning to think that it would be the one to pave the way for console manufacturers to adopt a similar strategy in the future. With the big fancy features of the PS3 and Xbox 360, Sony and Microsoft have been losing out on dough from sales since day one. But, the same cannot be said for Nintendo. They've been making profit since they sold their first Wii.

And others may follow suit in the next generation of gaming. At least, analyst Billy Pidgeon with IDC thinks so, as he commented to Next-Gen that "the results of this cycle will have a strong influence on the next cycle, in that cheaper consoles will be expected." He goes on further to say "Microsoft and Sony will attain successful business on this generation, but catering to the early adopter hardcore gamers with a technology leader strategy will be difficult in 2011."

Any way you look at it, Nintendo proved playing is believing and showed that graphics aren't all there is to a successful game. No matter what we see come the next generation of gaming, we think Nintendo's success here, and now, is going to have a big impact on it. Until then, we'll just get back to playing No More Heroes.

[Via CVG]
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]]>billy-pidgeonbusinessidcmicrosoftps3sonyxbox360David Hinkle2008-03-26T19:00:00 00:00Guitar Hero: Beatles has been 'talked about'http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/03/19/guitar-hero-beatles-has-been-talked-about/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/03/19/guitar-hero-beatles-has-been-talked-about/http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/03/19/guitar-hero-beatles-has-been-talked-about/#commentsFiled under:



Guitar Hero: Aerosmith? Thanks, but we'll pass. Guitar Hero: Beatles? We're listening! Not that such a game has been officially announced, but Martin N. Bandier, the biggest of all bigwigs at Sony/ATV Music Publishing (the company that owns the John Lennon/Paul McCartney copyrights), would like to see the Liverpudlian legends in their own Guitar Hero game.

"It's something we have talked about and something I'd like to pursue," Bandier told the LA Times. Hear that? They've talked! It's surely only a matter of months until we're strumming our plastic axe to I Am The Walrus!

[Via IGN]
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]]>activisionbeatlesguitar-heromusicrhythmChris Greenhough2008-03-19T12:45:00 00:00