The Wii has long been heralded as the cheapest console out there, but that claim soon weakens if you want to own every add-on that is available for the platform. Nintendo seems to recognize that Wii ownership is getting increasingly pricey, and now company bossman Satoru Iwata has said: no more add-ons!
Okay, so he didn't quite make that promise. But Iwata has told the Wall Street Journal that "most of the ideas for accessories that we had initially come up with are out now." If you can hear sighing, that'll be our wallets, though don't get comfy right away: Iwata has warned that Nintendo might think up more, presumably once the company's bank balance has dipped below the danger level of one trillion-gazillion* dollars.
Iwata also confirmed that Nintendo would try and make the Wii MotionPlus "very affordable," an attainable goal considering that the add-on is apparently cheap to make. There will also be games that can only be played with a MotionPlus plugged in -- beginning, we'd assume, with Wii Sports Resort.
In the second year of the newly revamped show, Nintendo released a few much-desired games, as well as a pair of incredible peripherals, and yet, there seemed to be something missing. Much of the show's excitement came from third parties (on my Nintendo Wii?), and some found Nintendo's announcements disappointing. Whatever your reaction, we're sure we can all agree on one thing: there was a ton of news and a flood of media. Luckily, you can revisit it all right here (even the week's most outrageous story, which wasn't even from E3).
We've listed a few of the show's highlights below, but for the full index of all our 2008 E3 coverage, hit the break. We still have a few items rolling in, and we'll be updating the index as that happens. Check back with us over the next few days by clicking the E3 sidebar graphic.
Your Wiimotes might be outdated pretty soon, that is if Nintendo's Katsuya Eguchi is to be trusted. During a developer roundtable, he alluded to the possibility of a hardware refresh on the Wii's motion-sensitive controller, one that would include the new MotionPlus functionality, commenting "as to looking at whether or not it will be an attachment or built in - we're always looking at how hardware should evolve and where we should take it." He also added that "it's something we'll be looking at."
Of course, there are several things to consider. For one, how much would it drive up the cost of the Wiimote? Secondly, how crappy would it be to have to (eventually) buy all new Wiimotes? Thirdly, until Nintendo shows off a killer app for the thing (as okay as Wii Sports Resortlooks, it's definitely not a killer app), does anyone even care?
Well, so much for Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Really, as much as we love the thought of using our Wiimotes as Lightsabers, we don't think such duels will be able to compare to the Sword Play in Wii Sports Resort. That's right, wewent there.
Seeing the 1:1 motion controls in action (via the Wii MotionPlus) just puts us in awe. Are we just too easily amazed, or are you guys excited, too? Maybe we can just pretend our swords are Lightsabers. Of course, we'll have to wait until spring to try any of it out, anyway. Too bad, so sad.
Going into our play session yesterday, we didn't have high hopes for the fun factor of NIntendo's expected sequel. In watching it at Nintendo's E3 keynote, we thought that cutting wood on the beach didn't really look that fun and a sort of dumbed down Wave Race experience seemed like a bad addition. Good thing we were wrong about one of those things.
Did yesterday's Nintendo keynote leave you wanting more? Well, pipe down already -- you're getting more. The company is holding a private conference, and our very own JC Fletcher is invited to the party. Since you can't be there, we'll be posting JC's highlights right here, live. We hope your F5 buttons and refresh fingers are ready, because the word on the street is that something big is going to be revealed. Of course, that could just be disgruntled fans' hopes evolving into a rumor, but we'd like to believe that's not the case. We'd hate to be disappointed by the big N two days in a row, after all.
If we hear something big (or not so big), don't worry, you'll be the first to know (well, uh, after us).
We've been waiting since E3 '06 to hear details regarding Wii Music, and the anxiety brought on by rumors of an MMO Animal Crossing has been unbearable at times, but despite those big reveals at E3 '08, the biggest Wii news was the announcement of the Wii MotionPlus. Because most of us had nearly given up hope for Wii games with a 1:1 ratio of motion-sensing responsiveness, it's quickly become known as "the 1:1 adapter."
The news of this unexpected device is so exciting, I've pushed back the topic planned for this week's Revolutionary to instead talk about what the MotionPlus is, and what it can do to further revolutionize gaming.
So, we've had tons of content up for you all yesterday, because that's how we roll and we'll be damned if The Man is going to stop us! For those of you hungry for more, know that we're going to continue the flood of content, but we've also got a huge photo dump from the Nintendo E3 keynote for you. Within, you'll find all of our pics from the luxurious seats found in row 12. Missed some of the bits about how well the DS is selling? We got it in images. Want to see Shaun White's hideous Mii? We got you covered. Check it all out in our gallery below.
According to Gizmodo, you'll be shelling out the usual AAA Wii price when snagging Wii Sports Resort this spring. The bundle, which includes the new Wii MotionPlus adapter, will cost $49. This all came from a nameless Nintendo exec, apparently.
Seeing as how the original Wii Sports fetched the same price in Japan, and was eagerly lapped up there, we wouldn't be surprised if this was the case. Nintendo can certainly get away with charging as much, because, let's face it: most of us are going to be picking it up.
With so many highlights from this year's Nintendo E3 keynote, we're finding our live chat wasn't enough to cover our thoughts and opinions on what was shown. So, below, you'll find some impressions akin to what we did last year. Enjoy.
This year's Nintendo conference at E3 felt much too short, but was packed with some really great announcements ... like Wii Speak! But in case you missed the show, or simply prefer an abridged version, here are the highlights. Read our live reactions here, or check out Joystiq's live blog if you're feeling adventurous.
Shaun White Snowboarding demonstration (with Shaun White!), and a lot of stuff we already knew about the Ubisoft title, such as release window and the fact that it uses the Balance Board. Unsurprisingly, no mention of the abhorrent graphics.
To some, Wii Sports is almost synonymous with the Wii itself, so you can paint us totally unamazed to hear that there'll be a follow-up. Wii Sports Resort will launch in Spring 2009, shipping with one of those fancy new Wii MotionPlus add-ons and a special Wii Remote jacket to house your elongated Wiimote.
The theme here is beach games -- perfect for people like us who don't particularly enjoy going outside, let alone baring our flesh. On stage at Nintendo's E3 press conference, we were treated to demos of games such as Disc Dog (lobbing a frisbee for your dog), Jet Ski (self-explanatory), and a sword-jousting minigame in which players attempt to knock each other off of a platform. So, who's excited?
A new Pikmin sprouts!
Animal Crossing: City Folk confirmed
The Conduit will use WiiSpeak
Wii Sports Resort announced
Mega Man 9 feels more like a 10
Wii Fanboy bats-on with Mario Super Sluggers
Animal Crossing to support keyboards, save fruit-picking time
Wii Fanboy hands-on with Wii Sports Resort
