Voice chat/Virtual Console

• Reggie talked about how Nintendo is still considering voicechat, and how he wouldn’t be surprised to see it on Wii in the future.
• Both expect it to happen (when Nintendo say stuff like this, it basically means it is happening) but are dumbfounded by how long it is taking.
• Both really hope it comes out in time for Smash, but are doubtful.
• For the majority of VC games, we’re not going to see modifications or upgrades (like we did with Pokemon Snap), simply because Nintendo doesn’t need to do it.
• Don’t expect a VC price drop in the future - they’re doing great and there’s no need to change anything.
• Hope to see more import games (like Sin and Punishment) and expect this because it appears that Nintendo is paying attention to the wider gaming community.

NPD

• Both Wii and DS did exceptionally well.
• Numbers don’t include some retailers such as Walmart, so the numbers are even larger.
• Analysts are predicting around 1.6-1.7 million for Wii in December.
• Make sure you camp out if you want to get a Wii - don’t go on ebay or anything because you will be ripped off.
• If the quantity had been there, Wii sales would have definitely been over 1 million. Nintendo would be kicking themselves right now because of their inability to get more units out.
• Very solid performance by 360 (not too far away from Wii) and PSP, as well as Playstation 2. Playstation 3 numbers are still comparatively low, but much improved from last month.
• Galaxy released a week later than COD4, so both games are basically selling at the same pace - if Galaxy came out earlier, then it would probably have reached around the same numbers as COD4.
• Guitar Hero 3 Wii should be a 1 million seller by the end of the year, which should do very good things for future Wii 3rd party support and also proves that 3rd party games can sell very well if they are high quality and appeal to the Wii audience. EA should be kicking themselves for not releasing Rock Band on Wii.
• Bozon thinks it’s taken way too long for the mono issue in Guitar Hero 3 Wii to be fixed. Action needs to be taken.

Wii Software LTD’s:

• Super Mario Galaxy = 1.2 million
• Smackdown vs Raw 2008 = 53,000 - not very good first-month numbers, and comparatively lower to PS2 and 360.
• Carnival Games = 300,000 - has sold better than Nintendo’s Big Brain Academy.
• Boogie = 172,000
• Call of Duty 3 = 310,000
• Cars = 115, 000
• Cooking Mama = 190,000
• DDR Hottest Party = 176,000
• Dragon Ball Z Buokai Tenkaichi 2 = 166,000
• Elebits = 130,000
• Excite Truck = 266,000
• Fire Emblem = 53,000
• High School Musical = 185,000
• GT Pro Series = 108,000
• Guitar Hero 3 Wii = 715,000
• Happy Feet = 87,000
• Harry Potter = 150,000
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess = 1.8 million
• Madden 08 = 292,000
• Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games = 330,000
• Mario Party 8 = 1.4 million
• Medal of Honor Heroes 2 = 31,000
• Metroid Prime 3 Corruption = 490,000
• MySims = 200,000
• Wii Play = over 3 million
• Rayman Raving Rabbids = over 500,000
• Rayman Ravings Rabbids 2 = 60,000
• Red Steel = less than 400,000
• Resident Evil 4 = over 400,000
• Resident Evil : Umbrella Chronicles = 120,000
• Sonic and the Secret Rings = 350,000
• SSX Blur = 125,000
• Super Paper Mario = 808,000
• The BIGS = nearly 200,000
• MLB Power Pro = around 80,000
• Tiger Woods 07 = almost 350,000
• Tiger Woods 08 = 175,000
• Transformers = 150,000
• Trauma Centre = 210,000
• Trauma Centre: New Blood = 15,000
• WarioWare: Smooth Moves = 604,000
• Zack and Wiki = under 35,000

- Bozon thinks that the great sales of Resident Evil on Wii should lead to an original Resident Evil game on Wii, likely in the vein of Resident Evil 4.
- It seems that casual and minigame titles on Wii are selling best, with a few exceptions.

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Reviews:

Galaxy- 9.5, 10, 10
NiGHTS- 7,7.5,7
RE:UC- 7.5,7.5, 6
SC Legends- 6,7, 4.5
MX vs. ATV- 6, 7, 5
Mario Party DS- 6.5, 6.5, 6.5

Rumors

Bizarre making the new James Bond game
EA Chicago was making a Guitar Hero inspired action game
Nintendo canceled 1st party game because developers wanted to let players customize their Mii’s
Need for Speed will fluctuate between realistic and arcade style
FF:CC Crystal Bearers “appears to be in trouble”

LEGO Batman details

Wii/PS3/360/P2/PSP/DS

- Numerous Batman villains escape from Arkham Asylum
- you can play as villains
- Catwoman, Killer Croc, Scarecrow, Joker, Harley Quinn, Penguin confirmed

Tecmo Bowl - 360/PS3, Summer 08 release date

I am getting very worried about Square Enix’s commitment to the Wii. Lately Square hasn’t had anything nice to say about the Wii and seemingly are greatly against Nintendo’s view of causal gamers. They do not feel that a hardcore or core game will sell on the Wii. Lets not count Crystal Bearers out yet; but I’m getting worried. After the last few square comments I have herd; I wouldn’t be truly surprised if Square cans the game and further Wii development. Right now its all rumors, keep your fingers crossed and lets hope Square gives it a chance. I’m sure Square will sell their games very very well on the Wii.

Square Enix has confirmed a Spring 2008 European release for ‘The World Ends With You’. Here’s to hoping it comes to the US. It’s lookin’ pretty fricken’ sweet! Then again, what Square game isn’t?

The game takes place in modern day Tokyo. The story so far is Nuku, a 15 year- old boy wakes up in a Tokyo Shopping District with no recollection of how or why he got there. He receives a text message telling him that he has 7 days to live unless he accomplishes certain tasks, then the craziness begins.

A few cool points about this game:

• Vibrant modern-day Tokyo setting
• Hip characters and styles
• Techno and hip hop soundtrack
• Combat system is going to rock, utilizing both screens and the microphone in ways unseen on the DS.

Unfortunately, not a whole lot is available beyond that: Check out the game’s Wikipedia and come discuss it in our forums. You can be sure this game will eventually end up in the states.

My Very First game review, proceed with caution: Last week finally got a chance to pick up ‘Dementium: The Ward’ for the DS. I went into it not knowing a whole lot about the game, and the fact the publishers name was Gamecock only made it that much cooler (Immature? Yeah, but funny nonetheless).

The game starts it a hospital room, and instantly brings back memories of the first Silent Hill. Everything from the Graphics to the overall design of the game scream ‘Silent Hill’ and the visuals are some of the best I have seen on the DS to date. They really pushed our little dual screen machine, and they did it well. I love the dark environment the game provides, and the attention to detail such as random pieces of paper scattered about and  the bloodstains on the walls is often make you forget you are playing a DS game.

The wonderful guys at Renegade Kid have answered my prayers by really pushing the little handheld’s 3D engine. These guys seem fairly new in the industry so it will be interesting to see what they can pump out in the coming years. The game controls with the touch screen, and while at first it may take some getting used to, it really comes in handy for quickly aiming and shooting those horrible deformities you encounter through the game… ahh yes, the monsters (for the most part) are pretty rad (and yes, I said “rad”).

While not up to par with Silent Hill or Doom, you have to admire what they were able to do with these low poly bad boys. Keep in mind, that you are playing a DS game and these guys (as far as I know) are still just establishing themselves in the industry, they have done well given what they have. My only real letdown about this game is that you cannot stock up on items such as ammo (except for what your gun carries) and medicines. I am not sure if this was intentional, or if it was just a limitation of the DS. Then there is the whole motion sickness thing…stupid motion sickness, I can only play the game for about 30 minutes at a time before I feel like I’ve been on the tilt o’ whirl 30 times that night. If you are a fan of survival horror and FPS on the DS, definitely give this Dementium a shot, if not, look elsewhere for an addition to your DS library.

IGN reported today that a new Castlevania game is being developed for the Nintendo DS. Iga, the series producer, stated “We’re working on a title for the DS. For this title, we’re keeping the production team that made Portrait of Ruin, so it will definitely be a game of high quality. Please wait just a bit longer for an official announcement.”

So there it is. The DS is getting a new Castlevania game. Hopefully the game will be more like Dawn of Sorrow, which is one of the best in the series in my opinion.

Original article here.