Quick Hit: No DVD or Blu-Ray For Wii U

By: Syeed 

Nintendo made mention during a question and answer session with analyst at last weeks E3 that the Wii U will not support Blu-Ray or DVD playback when it releases.

This shouldn’t really be too surprising, I can’t think of one Nintendo console that does support DVD playback let alone the newer Blu-Ray format. Nintendo is saying that it’s due to the pain in the ass amount off effort it takes in order to get all the licensing in order and that so many people own other devices that play Blu-Ray’s and DVD’s the cost and effort isn’t worth it. Apparently that process is both time consuming and expensive…unless of course your Sony.

There’s also the fact that less and less people are actually going out and buying any kind of physical media anymore. The Wii U will support Netflix and nowadays that seems to be enough to please most people.

I don’t think the lack of Blu-Ray/DVD is going to be a deal breaker for anyone looking to buy a Wii U. It seems like a good move by Nintendo, it should help keep he cost down despite the new features and tablet controller.

Related Stuffs:

• Source: CNet

Nintendo’s New Console, Wii U Get’s Unveiled

 

By: Kareem 

Nintendo just unveiled it’s next console at E3. It’s called the Wii U, has a tablet for a controller and looks pretty sweet. There are still some questions however, but it’s still looking pretty nice.

The controller is a 6.2 inch touch screen tablet-like device. It’s got front and rear facing cameras for video chat and some standard controller buttons (two analog sticks, a d-pad, four face buttons, shoulder buttons, start, select, home, and power).

The interesting thing is how it works. The controller can add content from a game running on screen or mirror the game completley, which is kind of expected since Nintendo’s been interfacing their handheld’s with their consoles for years. The controller can also play a game from the Wii U on it’s own if somebodies using the television, a pretty neat feature that allows you to keep gaming all over your WiFi connection without having to be tied to a T.V.

Oh and that’s not all. There’s also full motion control support and the console will be backwards compatible with all the current Wii’s peripherals and Nintendo has announced a version of Super Smash Bros that can probably be expected at launch.

Now for the questions, Nintendo made no announcements about the price, the details on the specs or when exactly the Wii U will be released. Those are some pretty important questions that hopefully we’ll be getting an answer to soon. The did just announce it about a couple hours ago so there should be tons more info coming out today and in the coming days. For now check out the links below.

Related Stuffs:

ZDNet: The six big questions Nintendo has to answer about the Wii U and its new controller

Los Angeles Times:  Nintendo unveils Wii U with tablet-sized touch-screen controller

G4TV: Super Smash Brothers Confirmed For The New Nintendo Console Wii U and Nintendo 3DS

It’s Official New Nintendo Console Coming 2012

So it seems like there was some truth to all those rumors floating around about Nintendo’s next big thing. The company announced today that it will be showing their next console at E3.

It hasn’t been named yet and no one knows what it looks like outside the company. Nintendo intends to keep it that way too…at least for another month and change. The console won’t be available until next year but we’ll all be getting a chance to see and play with one of the as-yet-unamend consoles at this years E3, which is taking place (in my hometown) Los Angeles on June 7th.

There wasn’t much in the way of information besides the E3 bit, but Nintendo’s president Satoru Iwata mentioned in an interview with Bloomberg that the company is “proposing a new approach to home video game consoles.”  Iwata also mentioned that there will be no 3D included in this console, stating the lack of wide acceptance of 3D televisions by the public, kind of weird considering they released the 3Ds earlier this year.

If the rumors are correct then there is a lot to be expected from Nintendo’s new console. Hopefully with the announcement being made official now, more tidbits will be released in the coming days.

• Source: This Is My Next
• By: Syeed

QUICK HIT:Nintendo Says Wii Successor Will Debut At This Years E3

Hiya folks hitting you from my phone I just couldn't wait till I got home.

I just came across the news that Nintendo will be announcing the details to its next console at this years E3. They haven't released any other details yet (like whether or not it will have the much rumored tablet-like controller) bit its still pretty exciting news, I like the fact Nintendo decided to just go ahead and make it official rather than let the rumors run wild. I will have an update for you soon.

By: Syeed@techsual.com

Wii 2 Might Be Coming This October

A rumor hit the web today that releases some supposed details to Nintendo’s next console. It might be coming this October, cost $350-$400 and could be called the ‘Stream’.

Rumors were already speculating that the console will have some pretty revolutionary controllers, they’re rumored to each have their own touch-screen as well as a few other pretty neat features.

The latest rumors suggest that the name ‘Stream’ is being kicked around as the title of the new console and that the power of the system might allow for users to stream separate games to each controller via a single console. If that’s the case then the ‘Stream’ might be pretty kick-ass, imagine being able to stream a Netflix movie through your Stream controller while you walk around your pad. I know there’s a lot of tablet users out there who are using their devices as mobile home theaters already, so I don’t see why Nintendo wouldn’t think of this feature as a possibility. Not to mention how sweet it would be to play any of your games without having to use the TV.

Of course, the specs are going to have to be pretty impressive in order to fulfill that wish list. If the rumored specs are to be believed, the ‘Stream’ is going to be one hell of a beast. It’s supposed to have an AMD R700 GPU based on the company’s latest chipset architecture, the GPU alone blows away the company I will not mention’s console I will not mention’s current GPU which is the strongest performing on a console today. If that’s not enough, the ‘Stream’ might be shipping with a custom built IBM triple-core PowerPC CPU, a similar chipset to the Xbox 360’s, but running at a faster clock rate.

I hope these rumors are true, if they are then Nintendo might be looking at another huge controller innovation ‘win’.

• By: syeed@techsual.com
• Source: CVG

Other Links:

• Nintendo's Project Cafe Ready
• Wii 2 Rumors

Retailers Drop Wii Down to $169

Retailers recently rearranged the price on Nintendo’s Wii console bundle. Their now selling the Wii white or Black bundled with a Wii MotionPlus Remote (wit Wii nunchuk) , Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort for $169 a bundle that previously sold for $200.

The drop in price came after Engadget cited sources who claimed the Wii would be getting dropped down to $150 by May 15th. Retailers like Wal-Mart, GameStop, Best Buy and others who dropped the price may have done so in anticipation of an official price drop being announced by Nintendo. They would want to sell off those old units so they could buy more at the discounted price when Nintendo makes it official.

Not to mention all the business this would drum up for selling those used consoles, which all know is any game retailers biggest source of income.

• By: syeed@techsual.com
• Source: PC Mag

Is Nintendo’s Project Cafe (Wii 2) Ready to Revolutionize Console Control?

 

Nintendo’s next console codenamed Project Cafe (or Wii 2), is the current rumor darling. Some people expect an announcement from Nintendo as soon as E3 this year. The biggest new rumored addition is Nintendo’s supposed plan to revolutionize the way we interact with our consoles yet again.

If the rumors are to be believed, Project Cafe will be shipping with the worlds first touchscreen, motion controllers. Some people have said the screen in question will be multi-touch and high definition, play video along with the games and on it’s own. It’s also expected to be wireless and incorporate the new Bluetooth 3.0 for and the 2.4GHz radio frequency for sending and receiving A/V and controller inputs.

IGN’s done a good job of summarizing the whole Project Cafe controller rumor situation. Check the link below.

• Source: IGN
• By: syeed@techsual.com

Wii 2 Rumors

Rumors are currently swirling around the internet about Nintendo’s possible announcement of it’s Wii successor soon. Maybe even as soon as this years E3 expo this coming June.

According to the wish filled rumors Nintendo is planning to really beef up the hardware quite a bit, apparently to the point that the Wii 2 will be more powerful than the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, the current Wii is the weakest of the big 3 consoles available, however it enjoys a pretty decent following, mostly due to it being the first console with motion control gaming.

There’s also mention that the console might come with mini-touchscreen controllers, a first for any gaming console, there’s no question that Nintendo likes to innovate on the controller front. Pretty much all their consoles have served in some small way to revolutionize controllers, if I ‘m not mistaken they were the first to have shoulder buttons (SNES), the first to have an analogue control (N64) and, as I mentioned above, the first to introduce motion controlled gaming (Wii).

The Wii 2 also might be getting a series R700 version 4.1 AMD graphics processor, which (obviously) is newer and more powerful than the Xbox 360’s current XCGPU which is a combination CPU/GPU/eDRAM chip.

I guess we’ll have to wait till E3 this June to see if Nintendo will be first to release the next round of gaming consoles.

Nintendo refuses to comment on the rumors saying it’s against company policy.

• Source: Tech News World
• By: syeed@techsual.com

Nintendo Might Be Cutting The Wii’s Price Down to $150

Nintendo is rumored to drop the price of the Wii down to $150 from the current $200, making it $100 cheaper than it’s recent handheld release the 3DS.

According to Engadget the company plans the drop on May 15th, just before E3 in June. The rumors have been further enforced by 1up.com who found a report on GoNintendo which apparently shows an internal price sheet from Kmart that shows the cut down to $150.

There’s no telling if any of this is true or not, but it seems like a logical step for Nintendo and the company has mentioned they still have a variety of marketing tools at their disposal, could this be one?

• Source: Engadget
• Author: syeed@techsual.com

Nintendo 3DS Goes on Sale Today But Can Nintendo Still Compete

 

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Nintendo launched it’s new handheld, the 3DS today. It went on sale at midnight last night and is the first device to offer glasses free gaming. But people are wondering at $250 and $40 a game, will it be able to compete with it’s newest rivals,  the Android marketplace and Apple’s app store?

Nintendo is the king of handheld gaming with 145 million DS’ of various iterations in the hands of people worldwide, they don’t really have much competition…or I should say didn’t have much competition.

Nowadays a lot of people are getting their handheld gaming on app-style via the Android Marketplace and Apple’s App store. 40 million people a month are playing Angry Birds according to reports and iPad 2 developers are creating new experiences with it’s ability to connect to an HDTV so it looks like it may be a little bit of a tough sell for Nintendo this time around.

Wait, but the 3DS is all glasses-free-3D hotness, how will the mobile gaming market compete with that? Well, AT&T and Sprint have already announced glasses free 3D devices set to release soon. But we’ll have to wait and see if those can compare to the 3DS’ capabilities. Not to mention the sweet augmented reality features that have been all the buzz of the early testers.

3Ds augmented Reality

Another  problem is battery life, people who got to test the device early reported the battery giving out somewhere between 3-5 hours, which is pretty weak considering most cell phones can hold a charge for at least 6 hours.

We’re going to have to wait and see if Nintendo can continue to dominate in this market. I wish them the best. I love Nintendo and I’m sure many of you share my same fond memories of Mario, Punch Out, GoldenEye, MarioKart, Zelda and the countless other legendary games us old-timers (I’m 27 btw) grew up on.