Apparently, a small group of PS3 owners were taken to a location in California where they got to test out a new Sony product, a sort of PS3 remote that very much mimics the functionality of the Wiimote. While there, participants apparently enjoyed minigames such as tennis, fencing and paintball. The demonstrator also showed the folks some Quake on his laptop with the device.
But, before you grab your torch and pitchfork, know that Sony hasn't finalized the product yet. There's apparently many kinks that need to be worked out, as the device is right now dependent upon a large tripod.
According to a job posting over at Gamasutra, 2K Marin (the new Irrational Games) is looking for those experienced in the ways of Wii and PS3 design. Now, we've all seen these job postings never pan out into what we hoped they would before (confirmation that the game in question will release on the platforms in question), but sometimes these things pan out.
Rumor had it that the first Bioshock game was going to be ported over to the Wii, but the likelihood of that happening now is between none and, well ... none. But, could 2K Marin be developing the game with the Wii in mind from the get-go? It is a possibility. We hear 2K likes money. And putting your game on Wii gives you more of a chance to get precious money.
Every (other) Tuesday, Mike Sylvester brings you REVOLUTIONARY, a look at the wide world of Wii possibilities.
Nintendo has recently been accused by a former game developer of copying the idea for the Wii's central point of interest, but whether or not Nintendo took inspiration from this industrious engineer is not the topic of today's Revolutionary. There have been many motion-basedgamecontrollers to precede the Wiimote, but none have been so well-received that they can pull double duty as the gearworks of a money printing machine. For the Playstation 3, Sony took a page from Nintendo's playbook and ran with it, so we'll be putting the SIXAXIS through its paces to see how it measures up.
This is something we never imagined we'd be discussing. With the Wii's lack of HD output, we never gave much thought to the new formats of HD-DVD and Blu-ray. Now, we're going to have to rethink things, as a very interesting piece comes courtesy of Rob Enderle.
He seems to think that because the Wii is so popular, but unable to completely fulfill the incredible demand for the console up until now, Nintendo inadvertently pushed sales over to Sony's PS3. This, combined with the good numbers Blu-ray discs were getting at retail, are going to be big factors in what Enderle sees as Blu-ray's eventual victory.
While the high definition format war isn't something that we usually cover here at Wii Fanboy, it's interesting to see someone look at Nintendo's problem of satiating demand for the console in this way.
We only ask because the company has revealed its thoughts on the current hardware cycle, and come to the overly diplomatic conclusion that ... they're all winners! Every one of them! Hurray!
"Previously, a single home gaming platform [PS2] was the market leader worldwide, but that pattern has changed," the company said in a statement. "Whichever platform best caters to users' preferences in a particular country or region, in terms of the games available to be played on it, is now the one that will dominate the local market."
Being the well-informed readers that you are, you'll be well aware that the Wii snagged first place from the Xbox 360 back in September, and apparently continues to be hugely desirable to consumers. And although Konami is correct to point out that the race is more finely balanced than in the last generation, there's still a distance to go yet. If anything, we'd bank on Nintendo to stretch its lead.
The analyst from Wedbush Morgan seems to think Nintendo walked out of the recently concluded E3 as the victor, for the second year in a row, commenting to gaming mag GamePro. He also commented that Sony would've walked away the victor, given news of their recent price drop for the PS3, but Nintendo still presented " new hardware and decent software introductions."
Of course, you already have our general impressions of the keynote immediately following it, but looking at the variety of content available for Wii owners now that the show has concluded, we're happy about the future of the Wii. And the experiences it'll provide.
Following news that Sony would be cutting the price of its PS3 console, rumors are floating about that Microsoft could be set to do the same with their Xbox 360 console. What does this have to do with us Wii-loving folk out there? Nothing, as Nintendo doesn't seem to think that Sony's price drop, or even a Microsoft one, is going to affect their great grip on the market right now.
George Harrison, senior vice president of communications for Nintendo of America, says that a "$100 price drop won't make a difference." Harrison goes on to wonder "Can Sony afford a $200 price drop? I don't think so." We're inclined to agree, since apparently the only reason to own one is for a 3+ year-old game, anyway.
Bloomberg is reporting on some May sales figures, stating that the Wii outsold the PS3 in the region by a margin of about 5:1. The Wii, which sold 251,794 compared to just over 50,000 for the PS3, has been a hot item since its launch and is continuing to constantly sell out.
These latest sales figures are an improvement for the system over last month, as in April it sold at about 4:1 with the PS3. The news that Nintendo is constantly beating out its competitors in the region comes as little shock, given the lack of software support and high price tag for Sony's machine.
Posted May 22nd 2007 1:55PM by JC Fletcher Filed under: News
It's not quite hard numbers showing combined Wii/360 ownership, and it's not quite ZOMG WII60 CONFIRMED TOTAL, but we'll take anything that suggests that the Wii may be awesome. According to a survey conducted by Magid Media from March 20th to the 27th, Xbox 360 owners are somewhat more likely to be interested in buying a Wii because of their 360 ownership.
66% of surveyed 360 owners indicated that they were "neutral or more likely to buy a Wii because they now own an Xbox 360." Compare that to the 52% who were "neutral or more likely to buy a PlayStation 3." 19% of 360 owners were "somewhat or much more likely" to buy a Wii.
Wii owners, strangely, were slightly more positive about Sony's system than Microsoft's: 53% were "neutral or more likely to buy a PlayStation 3 because they now own a Wii", versus 44% of Wii owners who felt the same way about the 360.
We think we may have spotted a subtle troll in Gamasutra's writeup: "Results for PlayStation 3 owners buying other consoles were not disclosed in the survey results, presumably because the sample size was below Magid's acceptable levels." Either that's a joke at the PS3's expense, or reality is a joke at the PS3's expense.
During a review of where the PS3 is at and Sony's goals, rep Jack Tretton spoke about the market impact of the PS3 and its long-term plan compared to the immediate market affects the Wii and Xbox 360 have had. Not something we care that much about, but during the piece, Kyoshi Shin of Japan's IGDA (International Game Developer's Association), commented that even with a long-term plan in mind, many developers are ditching the PS3 for the Wii. Adding insult to injury, Shin stated that "When people talk about the PS3 on chat forums, they say it's like going to a very expensive restaurant and not getting anything to eat," he added."
With the Wii doing so well month after month, we're sure this is going to continue to be the case.
First Peter Moore praises the thing (and even tries to adopt Nintendo's business strategy) and now Sony jumps on the bandwagon too? Looks like Sony's Chairman CEO, Sir Howard Stringer, is smitten with the system, as he lets his real feelings out during an interview on the show CEO Exchange. We're told the show hasn't aired yet, and frankly, we kind of wonder if it actually even exists.
Regardless, it seems like publicly praising Nintendo for the Wii is becoming a pastime, as all are stepping up to claim their love. We couldn't be happier, because if Sony and Microsoft fanboys are paying attention to what the execs at the top of their favorite companies are saying, they'll perhaps be persuaded to get a Wii of their own. Let's hope that's the case.
It looks like those analyst-type folk over at Wedbush Morgan are thinking the Wii is going to crush much in the way it did during the month of January and we ain't talking orange soda neither. No, we're talking about consoles sold here, ladies and gentleman, and according to these suit-and-tie business types (we're a t-shirt and shorts operation), the Wii is going to sell close to 350,000 units in the U.S. for the month, a total of 150,000 more units than the PS3.
As for software, the firm mentions titles such as MLB2K7 and Virtua Fighter 5, which obviously are not available on the Wii. That doesn't rule out the possibility that the console couldn't have a game or two (or three) in the top ten, however.
Jenova Chen, Kellee Santiago and the rest of the thatgamecompany team discussed their latest motion-controlled PS3 title fl0w. The game certainly would have been an incredible addition to the Wii library, considering its use of motion controls, relatively subdued graphics, and non-gamer-friendly gameplay. Santiago revealed that fl0w was pitched to two companies: Nintendo and Sony.
Well, Sony won. Sony's aggressive approach to supporting new developers was what gave PS3 the edge. "They [Nintendo] weren't right for us at the time. Sony kind of came to us with the process of incubation ... They helped us get our studio started."
Sony has proven at GDC that they care about developers through the announcement of Edge and extending their Network offerings to independent developers. When will Nintendo jump on the bandwagon, and give Wii owners the ability to download new, original content on the Wii Shop Channel?
Sony revealed a virtual world for the PS3 yesterday, perhaps in the hopes of duplicating the success of the Nintendo Mii. And while one might assume Nintendo would just brush off the announcement, they actually had something worthwhile to say.
A Nintendo spokesperson commented that it was a "Mii-too" approach, detailing that "as Mr. Miyamoto states, Nintendo years ago considered and rejected the type of approach Sony is now taking. Miis have become a cultural phenomenon in their own right, appealing well beyond the traditional core gamer audience, and the process of populating them across the Wii universe is just beginning."
What do you all think? Is Sony desperately out-of-touch with gamers and doing anything they can to get gamers interested in their woefully expensive system? Did they just completely rip-off Nintendo with their PS3 Home?
Now, before you all start yelling at us because the graph has a reading for a hard drive on the Wii, which we all now doesn't exist, keep in mind that we did not perform the sound test. Instead, using an analog sound meter, the fine folks in the Pregame Lobby forums are responsible for the graph and results of the sound test. Personally, we can't believe the disc drive on the Wii registered so loud ...
It shouldn't come as much of a surprise, considering their first attempt to rip off the Wii hasn't been that much of a success. Then, we heard rumors of Sony trying to bite off Nintendo's style again. Now, almost two years later, we hear about this?
