Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Yes, you read that title correctly. The dire situation regarding every Wii owner not having enough storage space is being considered by the Big N, so you can all bet we're happy campers. While Nintendo president Satoru Iwata doesn't come out and say that Nintendo is working on a hard drive for the console, or some other solution, he does say enough to get our hopes up for some sort of memory expansion (or support for external hard drives through USB).

"Statistically speaking, it is true that there are a small number of customers who feel that the flash memory is too small, while many others find that they have plenty of memory," says Iwata. "However, because this small number of people are none other than the most avid players, we know we have to review the best possible solution to eliminate their inconvenience." Interesting bit in that last line, if we may say so.

We all know that being able to re-download something just isn't a good enough solution because, well, it's a total pain. But, if Nintendo can come up with a solution to our storage space issues that doesn't provide us with a hard drive to buy or support for USB external drives, we'll be fine with it. We just need something to help us eliminate the chore of moving things around each and every week.

[Via IGN; Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Looks like we'll be waiting a little while longer for any price cut on the Wii. As in, until 2009. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has revealed to analysts that no price cut is planned for either the Wii or DS this year, and while both consoles are selling out pretty much everywhere, we can't say we're bowled over by that decision.

As yesterday's financial report demonstrated, Nintendo's practically bathing in money, and it expects to make plenty more over the coming twelve months -- $5.14 billion of it, to be precise. If you are still searching for a Wii, looks like you won't even have the consolation of paying a non-launch price!

[Via Joystiq]

For those of you who just love the interviewing skills of one Nintendo pres Satoru Iwata, then you should know the next segment in the interviews revolving around Wii Fit has gone live. This time around, Iwata chats with Hiroshi Matsunaga and Tadashi Sugiyama, two folks who oversaw the software development of the game.

As you might imagine, the interview not only focuses on the introduction of the title from a developer's standpoint, but also fleshing out Miyamoto's idea to something more than an application for weighing yourself every day. Oh, and did you know that Wii Fit was originally planned as a DS game?

If you were hoping that Wii Fit would be the answer to your love handles or scrawny limbs, though, think again. Wii Fit isn't a get-thin-quick plan, it's a life lesson. As was clarified by Miyamoto in the interview, "I don't think Wii Fit's purpose is to make you fit; what it's actually aiming to do is make you aware of your body."

Since body awareness is part of attaining a healthier lifestyle, don't be too deterred. It's possible that Wii Fit can still get you on the right track to becoming fit, if you let it. Still, at the end of the day it's just a video game, not Richard Simmons.

*Seriously -- don't do drugs. [/Public Service Announcement]

[Via CVG]

The so-called "hardcore gamer" contingent may see any move away from better graphics and story as something of a betrayal, but in a recent interview, Nintendo's Satoru Iwata makes an interesting -- and obvious -- point. "Targeting highly detailed graphics and epic stories are options, and in that situation, the gamer population doesn't increase," Iwata said, according to Asahi.com, and there's a lot of truth to those words. There are many ways to approach video games, and the epic story/epic visuals is one way. It's been the most common path to improvement in the gaming industry over the past few years -- and it wasn't really growing the market. So Nintendo, in an effort to bring in all new gamers, tried out some different options, and thus, we have Wii Sports (and more).

Iwata also says that many people shy away from gaming (or did) because so many games are a huge timesink, and here we agree. Listen, we play games like there's no tomorrow and even we think there's just not enough hours in the day for everything. Sometimes you want to plop down for five minutes and take a breather, and there are a lot of great options for that on the Wii and the DS. Apparently, people who weren't gamers felt a similar need for mental breaks, and that contributed to the rousing success of Nintendo's latest projects.

Does this mean that Nintendo will abandon the older core audience? As we've said before, no, we don't think so. Just as with the strong visual approach, the pick-up-and-play mentality is only another option. Unfortunately, it's one that makes for a lot of cheap games for developers, but we've seen enough goodness on the Wii that we're confident there will be much, much more.

[Via Develop and Kotaku]

Who doesn't love the great Satoru Iwata. He's a very kind man and a pleasure to be around (this blogger knows, he met him a couple years ago). Not only that, but he has a good mind for business, as he's managed to turn Nintendo into a crazy-rich company with the hottest console and handheld on the market. Certainly, he deserves this honor.

He isn't the only person from Nintendo to be recognized, however. Next-Gen's list encompasses 25 people from the industry, and other notable Nintendo folk include George Harrison and Yoshiaki Koizumi (the director behind Super Mario Galaxy).

Along with announcing the slew of new titles for Nintendo's Wii Ware download service, Satoru Iwata revealed that the company has received lots of proposals for Wii Ware titles. In commenting to the press, Iwata stated "We've already received proposals for over 100 titles from software development companies. We've made a platform for developing software at low cost, and would like to offer a new business chance based around a battle of ideas."

That means this flood of new titles for the download service is only going to be followed by even more titles, causing us great joy here at the Wii Fanboy HQ. Because, you know, we like games.

Considering the lengthy conversation between Nintendo president Satoru Iwata and Mother creator Shigesato Itoi over dinner six months ago, we're beginning to wonder if they consumed any actual food at their meal. Where did they find the time? So long as they didn't starve, however, we're glad to be privy to their chat, since so many interesting tidbit have come to light. The latest is on something close to our hearts: Wii Sports.

Is Nintendo considering a sequel to the popular pack-in? Maybe, says Iwata, but it's not something that's even in the planning stages at this time. The last thing Nintendo wants to do is take the "easy" way, he says, by slapping together something that's exactly the same, just with different sports featured. Our love for Iwata was renewed in spades as he spoke about the need to do something new rather than to rehash old ground just to make money. If we were feeling snarky, we might bring up a few franchises (like, say Mario Kart ... even though we love it, it tends to be pretty much Mario Kart), but Nintendo has been forging so much new ground lately that we'll let it slide. Some might argue that Nintendo did exactly what Iwata is talking about not doing with the recent Brain Age sequel, but the big man is quick to point out that the director of the titles has been breaking new ground himself: he's responsible for several of the Wii's channels.

Iwata did make the point, however, that it 's easier for Nintendo to take this stance right now because they're doing so well. If they weren't, he said, they might scramble to those "easy" sequels and decisions just to keep the boat afloat. We just wish other companies who are also in the black might take a similar line. Sure, the same game with slight tweaks may sell every year, but does it improve or expand the industry? Does it produce better games for everyone?

[Via Infendo]