Wii Warm Up

Since everyone else seems to like the Wii, too, it stands to reason that at least a few of you out there probably had some Wii-themed multiplayer moments over the holiday season. We want to hear about your all-gamer matches as well as those moments when grandma asked if she could get in on that "video bowling." Bonus points* to anyone who happens to have family video hanging around on YouTube.

*Bonus points are only redeemable in our hearts.

Wii Warm Up: Holiday fun originally appeared on Nintendo Wii Fanboy on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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News, Channels

There must really be something to this Nintendo/Dentsu "Wii no Ma Channel," the video service announced last week. Times Online calls it a "television channel" featuring "a family- oriented blizzard of cartoons, "brain-training" quizzes, cookery, educational and other lifestyle shows." In other words, not just occasional offerings.

The prospect of a Wii-based television channel apparently has traditional television channels worried. According to the Times, a Fuji TV executive called the possibility of Nintendo media dominance "the stuff of television producers' nightmares", expressing fears that Wii-based programming could cut into prime-time viewership for Japanese television.

Thanks, unnamed Fuji Television executive! We're much more excited about this Channel now.

[Via GoNintendo]

Impending video service worries Japanese TV establishment originally appeared on Nintendo Wii Fanboy on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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News, Video, WiiWare

Hudson has launched the site for their WiiWare snowboard racing game, Snowboard Riot, along with a new gameplay trailer. We've never been overly interested in snowboarding games, but the smooth motion evident in this trailer is quite appealing, as is the combat aspect of the game. The fact that it's not a full-priced game certainly doesn't hurt our impression either.

We thought we had found a negative in the Oakley sponsorship, which seemed a bit crass, but then "Goggles can amp up player abilities!" popped up and the partnership instantly jumped from "crass" to "unintentional self-parody", at which point our laughter allowed us to forgive Hudson for taking advantage of a lucrative opportunity.

We hope that a) this turns out to be okay when it comes out (maybe this month, as it's due out this month in Japan) and b) we can find people to play with online. You guys like combat racing, right?

News, WiiWare

With our shelves and Wii fridges creaking under the weight of new games from the holidays, Nintendo has generously given PAL gamers a week to catch their breath -- at least, we think that's the idea. Both WiiWare titles this week probably only appeal to a handful of people. The fifth and final episode of Strong Bad Episode 5 is great, obviously, but only if you're in the teensy minority who grabbed the first four instalments.

Meanwhile, Fun! Fun! Minigolf is allegedly so fun that maker Shin'en felt the need to tell us of its fun-ness twice over. But is a zany-looking chibi minigolf game really the title to stop us from getting our fingers gooey? Hint: no.

• Strong Bad Episode 5: 8-Bit is Enough -- WiiWare -- 1000 Wii Points
• Fun! Fun! Minigolf -- WiiWare -- 900 Wii Points

News

Despite reporting on it back in 2007 and reading the Wikipedia entry so many times, we're still foggy on what market capitalization is -- we think it's basically how many shares of stock are in the public, multiplied by the cost of one share. We have an impressionistic idea of what it means, though: the bigger the number, the more likely the company's executives are to have Segways (for example).

So how did Nintendo fare? They finished 2008 with the fourth-highest market cap in Japan, according to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The number, 4.7813 trillion yen ($52.7 billion), is way down from where it was in 2007, but what isn't? A halved market cap actually sounds bad, and it probably is, but they're still in the top 5 companies, and still selling tons of systems and games, so it's probably nothing to worry about. First-place Toyota dropped 54% themselves!

[Via Kotaku]

How ridiculously wealthy is Nintendo this year? originally appeared on Nintendo Wii Fanboy on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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