Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Nintendo's Wii Fit launch event in Central Park drew a crowd of interested onlookers and Balance Board tryer-outers yesterday. They could just walk over to the Nintendo World Store to buy the thing, but the rest of us chumps have to wait until tomorrow at the earliest. Oh, well, pacing is exercise too.

To entice the crowd to make that purchase, Nintendo offered live demonstrations of the game as well as personal Wii Fit sessions with trainers (who probably trained people to take their shoes off and follow the instructions on the screen). The event also served as an American Heart Association fundraiser. We've got Nintendo's own pictures in our gallery below; for more, check out Engadget.

We have a rough idea of which software is coming to WiiWare, but when it's coming is a different matter. Apparently, Nintendo doesn't want to help us find out either. Game|Life's Chris Kohler recently spoke to a company representative, who revealed that there may not be a list of WiiWare launch titles until the launch itself, on May 12th. Why? We've no idea, but it's a mighty strange way of getting consumers excited, Nintendo.

A few games (including Hudson's Star Soldier R, Konami's Critter Round-Up, and Two Tribes' Toki Tori) have already been confirmed for a release on May 12th by their publishers, but we're largely in the dark here. As Nintendo of America is planning to model the WiiWare release schedule on that of the Virtual Console, does that mean we'll be getting far fewer games than we originally expected when we turn our Wiis on next Monday morning?

When WiiWare launched in Japan on March 25th, the service offered nine new games. Then, no new releases at all (except, of course, for My Life as a King and Lonpos DLC) until almost a month later, when Minna de Puzzloop showed up.

According to a Wired discussion with Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America is going to take more of a Virtual Console-like approach, in which everyone complains that each week's new game isn't Earthbound two or three games come out every week. That means that all the games that were previously announced for launch, like Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, Pop, and Major League Eating will be spread out across the first month or so.

Game|Life's Jean Snow, along with a very exclusive audience that naturally did not include us (we'd be happy just to be able to buy the CD), attended the launch party for the No More Heroes Dark Side CD, which features remixes of Masafumi Takada's excellent soundtrack by other game and chiptune musicians. The party took place at Shinjuku's 8-bit Cafe, a retrogaming-themed restaurant with displays of classic games, and even a bin full of games for customers to play at any of the systems set up around the shop.

Once the event closed, the celebration moved to another bar called 16 Shots -- as in Takahashi Meijin's button-mashing record. You'll never hear a geekier name for a business, at least until our loan goes through.

Almost eighteen months after the console made its worldwide debut in the U.S., South Korea has finally received news of its own Wii launch. Little wonder they all look so elated -- back in 2006, our reaction to Wii launch news was similar (if you take away the flag, the crowds, the being outside, and the baring of flesh).

Although South Korea has had to wait some time to get its Wii on, they're getting it fairly cheap when it does arrive on April 26th. The console itself is 220,000 won ($224), while the games range from 38,000 won ($39) to 48,000 won ($49). The launch line-up is dominated by third-parties, with Wii Sports, Wii Play (and a Wiimote), Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, Zack & Wiki, FIFA 2008, Elebits, Namco Museum Remix, and Pangya Golf 2nd Shot available to first-day Wii owners, and Guitar Hero III scheduled for May.

Finally, the country gets its very own Virtual Console, with both a reduced number of consoles (only NES, SNES, and Nintendo 64) and reduced prices. Yep, you read that right: South Koreans will only have to pay 400 Wii Points for NES titles, 600 Points for SNES games, and 800 Points for N64 titles. Lucky blighters.

[Via Siliconera]

Check Out, the official Wal-Mart blog (!) has announced that, as they did with Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Sam's Club will hold a launch party for Mario Kart Wii. The event will take place at midnight on Sunday, April 27th. If you're still Wii-less but desperate for Kart, we suggest you get there late Saturday night, because each Sam's Club will have at least 15 Wii systems available.

The blog also promises a "GREAT price" on Mario Kart Wii, which is probably the MSRP minus eight cents. Of course, you also have to be a member of Sam's to get that "GREAT price."



[Thanks, Bobby!]

We're going to rep the set for our homies in Taiwan for a second, letting them know that they can floss their own Wii come Q2 of this year when Nintendo bangs on their set. Distribution will be handled by Hakuyu and Weblink International.

This isn't to say the console is just becoming available to the region, however. Consumers have been able to get their hands on imported Wiis for some time now. Now they have actual support to look forward to, though.

[Via Codename Revolution]

In Japan, game launch parties are associated with personal appearances from games' creators, free stuff, and huge lines. In the U.S., however, they're all business, generally just an opportunity to get a game a little early. The Nintendo World Store is an obvious exception to this rule, with crazy, publicized launch events taking place for every big Nintendo game.

Whether at the NWS or at your local Sam's, do you go in for these events? If so, do you go just to pick up your game, or is there a special appeal to hanging out at a store? We've never participated in the whole midnight-launch thing or really any other launch event, but that's only because they're, like, outside of our house.

Following yesterday's news of developer Engine Software's Project Bang! being the next title to hit Wii Ware, many were wondering what was up with the blurb about Wii Ware launching in March of this year. Personally, we'd like to see the service launch in March. It's as good a time as any for us.

But, Nintendo isn't willing to confirm or deny that is the launch window for their download service. "Nintendo has not made any official announcement regarding the launch of the WiiWare service," Nintendo commented. So, with no news on what exactly Project Bang! is and no solid launch date for Nintendo's service, we're left where we started. And that place is desperately waiting for the day we can download Dr. Mario on our Wii.

[Via Go Nintendo]

Grasshopper Manufacture held a launch event for No More Heroes at Sofmap Amusement on the 6th, and ... well, it didn't quite go as planned. Or, at least we assumed that it didn't go as planned, because we assumed that they planned to sell some copies of the game.

Apparently it took over 20 minutes for anyone to actually walk up and purchase the game from director Suda51 and producer Yasuhiro Wada -- and even then, the first person to do it was a Famitsu reporter. We guess people just don't turn out for these things in Japan unless the game is porn or Dragon Quest. Uh, and nothing's more punk rock than being unpopular anyway, right?

[Via NeoGAF]

Being a devotee of Nintendo in a PAL region is probably a bit like marriage (I'd urge you to stick with me here, because I've thought this analogy through for at least four minutes). For years, you slog away at the relationship, mildly irritated by the other person's foibles and imperfections, like that weird bumpy mole on their back, or how they noisily slurp soup, or how they insist on playing nothing but Keane during long car journeys.

Then every so often, you have your disputes, arguing about the merits of Magnolia Eggshell and Cream Eggshell in the aisle of Lowe's. And sometimes, these disagreements might build up to something bigger in your mind, begin to fester, and perhaps you occasionally think, "Is this it? Is this the rest of my life?" But then, something strange happens -- every so often, the other person does something really fantastic, something that reminds you exactly why you got hitched in the first place, and why you settled on this individual as your soul mate. And suddenly, everything is well with the world, or at least until it's soup night again.

The point of this long-winded comparison being: as a gamer in the UK, that pretty much sums up my relationship with Nintendo. For years now, PAL region gamers have often been treated fairly shabbily by Nintendo. I'll freely admit it doesn't take much too rile us -- we hardcore types are notoriously tough to please -- though Nintendo doesn't always help itself. Its insistence that we receive games or hardware late, or not at all, or borked ... well it's just plain infuriating is what it is. The prices, as well, leave a lot to be desired. And totally rad free gifts? Yea, forget about those.

In attending a few select Japanese stores on the morning of the launch of some game starring some guy about rings in space or something (the kids keep calling it Halo 3, but we've never heard of it), Kotaku found that many consumers also took the opportunity to purchase a Wii. As big fans of the console, we're always glad to see more people picking it up and checking out all of the awesome stuff available on the platform.

But, it's such a night and day thing. When picking up a game for Microsoft's system, why would they also pick up a Wii console? Also, it might sadden a few of you still on the hunt to know that the Japanese retail outlets that the Kotaku folk visited were chock full of consoles, almost stacked to the heavens.

Nintendo's "early 2008" prediction for the launch of WiiWare might seem like a lifetime away, but we're still not convinced that the company has given itself enough time to turn the Shopping Channel into a vehicle for new downloadable game content. Nintendo isn't exactly known for its punctuality -- one need only look to the DS's delayed WiFi Connection implementation or the GameCube's nearly-nonexistent online service for examples of stalled promises.

What're your thoughts on the possibilities of WiiWare arriving on schedule? Does early 2008 really sound feasible? Or does it sound like a bunch of duck tales (a-woo-woo!)?

When do you expect WiiWare to launch?
	Early -- 2007 holiday season!
	Early 2008, as promised.
	Slight delay to summer 2008.
	Delayed to 2008 holiday season.
	A 2009 launch, with little fanfare.
	When monkeys fly out of my butt.

Customers at Virgin Megastores interested in preordering a PS3 are being told that they may or may not actually get the console they're reserving, thanks to Nintendo. Yeah, our reaction was very like that "what-huh" you've got going on there. Now, we know there were Wii shortages in the UK (as there are now everywhere), but there are often shortages at launch. It's part of the rush to be an early adopter -- you get out there and fight your fellow gamers and everyone has a grand time. No, we're just confused as to why this is an issue. It's pretty much SOP around here to assume that pre-orders aren't a guarantee. Most places even remind you of that fact either on a receipt or in person at the time of preorder. So instead of pointing the finger at Nintendo, why aren't they just saying, "That's the way of preorders, old chap! We'll keep our fingers crossed for you." Instead, they're all trying to instigate some problems between Sony and Nintendo. Good game, Virgin... let's get everyone amped up to fight!

Outside of all the finger-pointing drama, there is an interesting underlying issue in this story regarding the shortages. Nintendo denies any shortages, and seems to have delivered on their year-end numbers. Virgin says they didn't receive what was promised. Nintendo swears they released all allocations in October and met them on time. Certainly someone's at fault here, but it's hard to tell amidst all the finger-pointing.

And we thought the Wii was big in the United States! In the vacuum left by the delayed PS3, European gamers gobbled all the Wii units they could get their mitts on this past weekend, to the tune of 350,000 moving in just two days. In the U.S.? 600,000 in the first week. The Europeans are really clamoring for those Wiis! Just imagine if there had been no shortages -- how many could have sold? Perhaps numbers like these will influence the industry to spend a little more time and effort on the European market.

About 74% of everyone who bought a Wii also bought Twilight Princess, and sales for Wii Play were nearly as enthusiastic. But that's to be expected with the need for a second Wiimote for multiplayer action.

Cheers to Europe on a great launch weekend, and here's hoping consoles are plentiful.