Nintendo hasn’t always had it this easy, with gamers and non-gamers both extolling the virtues of their current system.
No, there was a time, way back in the 90s, when even Good Morning America seemed to have it out for the Japanese game maker. With Sega beating down their back door how was Nintendo ever to survive? Watch the video for more nail-biting questions.
Nintendo’s fended off class-action lawsuits over “defective” Wiimote straps in the past, and if you remember, they also replaced about 3.2 million of the straps (a/k/a “all of them”) around the same time too — way back in December of 2006. Well, the same lawyer’s back for round two with a new, nearly identical suit, but this one also alleges that Nintendo knew that the defect existed and was negligent in their failure to report the problem to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Nintendo’s probably not stoked about the news — but we’ve got a feeling that the company’s record-breaking sales will balm the wounds a little.
Two years after the initial Wii remote wrist strap lawsuit came and went, a new lawsuit claims that not only are straps still inadequate, but that Nintendo failed to report continued failures.
The new class-action lawsuit filed by Colorado resident Molly Elvig claims that both the initial, thicker replacement strap and the third version with the plastic clasp still fail to secure the Wii remote to the user during strenuous use. Furthermore, the suit alleges that Nintendo has failed to report a single remote strap issue to the Consumer Product Safety Commission in their monthly reports, despite Nintendo support documents that prove the existence of said issues.
GameCyte has the court filing available in PDF format, along with a rather large batch of the presented evidence, ranging from the original Wii Sports instruction manual recommending the forceful use of the controller to Nintendo customer service documents detailing wriststrap issues that occurred, along with the corresponding reports to the CPSC claiming that no new incidents have arisen.
A karaoke game? On the Wii? In Japan? This thing (Hudson’s Joysound, for reference) will sell more than a Square Enix hotcake-selling minigame compilation.
When just one of your platforms does more than a half-billion dollars in revenue, we’d expect you to be pleased. Unsurprisingly, Nintendo seems to be, bragging about the 3.6 million systems it sold last month.
It calls November’s hardware sales “historic,” with Wii sell-through setting “a new all-time record for a non-December month.” The second highest sales total for a non-December month? The Nintendo DS, with the 1.56 million it moved last month. Nintendo put its lifetime-to-date sales in the U.S. at 15.4 million for the Wii, 24.6 million for the DS. Oh, and it also wanted to mention Wii Music, which it says is “following its long-tail trend.”
“Nintendo’s record-breaking sales demonstrate that consumers are looking for the best value not only among video games, but also among all entertainment options,” said Nintendo’s EVP of sales and marketing Cammie Dunaway.
Gamasutra had a pleasant chat with Aspyr Software’s Justin Leingang in which the publisher/developer revealed some details about their new game Treasure Troves, which uses local wifi signals to generate in-game objects.
Billed as a ‘real life treasure hunt’, Treasure Troves will scan the area around your DS and alerts you to the presence of ‘treasures’ either by on screen display or an audio alert if the DS is closed - allowing ‘passive’ play when you are just wandering around.
Leingang says that testing the game has actually changed the way he experiences his home town.
“I take walks frequently,” he explains, “and all of a sudden I’m doing stupid things, just laughing at myself because I’m walking ten more feet to the left this time, or turning down this different street, or walking down the opposite side of the road.
Nintendo sold 2.04 million Wiis to U.S. consumers last month, outselling its nearest competitor, the Xbox 360, more than two-to-one. As good as the news was for Nintendo, it was as bad for Sony.
While Wii sales more than doubled from the 981,000 units Nintendo sold in November last year, monthly PlayStation 3 sales dropped. Despite commanding a much stronger software line-up, Sony saw PS3 sales decline from 466,000 last November, to just 378,000 this November. The company’s previous generation platform also sank considerably, with the PlayStation 2 moving just 206,000 units compared to 496,000 it did during the same month last year.
Microsoft’s hardware sales jumped from November 2007, but not by such a wide margin.
Currently sitting atop the Billboard singles charts like a tiny six year old queen, Britains Got Talent nearly-winner and angel-voiced British Invasion ‘08 munchkin Connie Talbot is to get her very own Wii game.
No, not for Xmas - for reals. Connie Talbot: Over the Rainbow is some kind of musical karaoke game for the Nintendo Wii. Players will be able to sing along with Connie as well as.. do other stuff. It’s unclear at this stage.
As Kotaku’s token Brit I feel I ought to take some responsibility for this but I am happy to pass this particular buck to the American public.
What you’re looking at is an actual Wiimote and nunchuk wrapped in high-grade hemp. Modder DHRECK wanted to recontextualize Nintendo’s controller by turning the sterile, white plastic into something much more natural. In his words, “In stark contrast with the original Wii-mote set, what was once sleek, cold, white and hard plastic has now become a slightly fuzzy, natural, warm and textured concoction.” We know what you’re thinking — and the answer appears to be no. If you want to get high while gaming, you’re still going to have to pause. Take a few more looks after the break.
Continue reading A Wiimote wrapped in hemp: high-times indeed
Filed under: Gaming
A Wiimote wrapped in hemp: high-times indeed originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:22:00 EST.
Square Enix rectifies the sad fact that Europe has never seen an official release of their RPG classic Chrono Trigger early next year, as they announce a February release date for the DS remake.
February 6th is the date that Europeans in all their form and splendor will finally get to understand what RPG fans around the world have been gushing about for the past 13 years, not counting those that went the import or emulation route. Chrono Trigger DS is a faithful remake of the original title, adding a few new dungeons, an alternate ending, the cutscenes from the PlayStation remake, and the convenience of the dual-screen display but otherwise leaving the original adventure of Crono and friends completely intact.