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GC 2006: Mario Strikers Charged Hands-on
Nintendo shows off its updated soccer title for the Wii at GC.
by Mario Kablau
August 23, 2006 - One of the few surprises Nintendo had to offer at its press conference this morning was a first glimpse of the new Mario Strikers for Wii called Mario Strikers Charged.
When you see the first screenshots or videos of the game you'll notice that the graphics haven't evolved very much since Mario Strikers for Nintendo GameCube. The only big difference is the audience which is now a lot more realistic than before, but still far from being exciting; at least all the Birdos and Toads appear to be 3D models now.
The main characters have also been modified. Mario is now more aggressive and Peach has even more sex appeal than on GameCube. Other than these two, you can select Bowser and Donkey Kong as main characters. Every captain can still choose out of four types of team partners which are now separated into groups (defense, offense, etc.).
After choosing a captain you are able to select one of two different arenas. One of them is walled off and the other somewhat more open and dangerous. The secure one is just like the Peach Stadium from Mario Strikers on the Cube, with the field being surrounded by a force field to prevent the ball from getting out. The second one is located on the top of a mountain and does not have a force field around it, meaning you can kick your enemies out of the arena if you wish. If you do, they fall down and need a few seconds to climb back on the field again.
The controls are almost exactly the same as on GameCube. You move with the nunchuk, pass the ball or select your character with the A-button, and you shoot with the B-Button on the Wii Remote. However, instead of pressing a button to attack your enemy you now just have to swing the remote a little bit to knock someone out. This new feature is quite nice because you can actually hit your real-life opponents with the Wii-mote while playing, even though this is not necessary.
Another modified feature is the power shot. After holding the B-button for three seconds, your main character is able to shoot more than one ball at the same time towards the goal of your opponent. The game mode then switches to a mini-game and your opponent takes control of the keeper's gloves to try and block the incoming balls. At first this was rather awkward because you tend to overcompensate and perform bigger movements than necessary. However, after a few power shots you get the feel for the movement, and it became a lot easier to prevent goals. This also adds a bit more strategy to the game as you now have the chance to prevent a goal even though your opponent managed to pull off a power shot.
Mario Strikers Charged was indeed the biggest surprise out of Nintendo from Games Convention. While the graphics are just a little bit better than before, the game play is a lot more fun and varied than Strikers on GameCube. After a few minutes I started to feel really comfortable with the controls, and I was pulling off some nice combinations with the Wii-mote. Sadly, no word has been given about the launch date for the Wii version of Strikers, but it was looking fairly far along at the show, so hopefully we won't have to wait too much longer to see the final version.
Sourse: http://wii.ign
July 29 2006
$50 U.S Price Tag for Wii Games
Another 49.99 U.S $ possibility? Makes sense to me!
Recently a number of web sites have reported that Electronic Arts plans to price its Nintendo Wii titles at or below $49.95 U.S $ — likely leaving many to cheer that software for the new console won’t carry the heavy price tag of titles for other new systems.
Did EA so readily admit its pricing plans, however? When contacted, an EA spokesperson flatly described the report as “false,” clarifying that the company has not yet decided on Wii software prices.
Where did the rumors come from, then? In an earnings conference call yesterday, Electronic Arts CFO Warren Jensen responded to a question about Wii pricing, referring to comments from Nintendo president Satoru Iwata: “The only thing I heard is the CEO of Nintendo saying he could not imagine any of their titles being sold beyond $49.95 U.S $.”
In other words, though EA’s pricing plans are still undetermined, $49.95 U.S $ is hardly an unfamiliar number — it’s a price Nintendo has suggested all along.
Sourse: http://wiinintendo.net/?cat=8
May 10 2006 - Nintendo just pulled a fast one on us. At an after-hours press briefing a mere minute ago, the company pulled another ace out of its sleeve: Super Smash Bros. Brawl -- the next installment in Nintendo's popular Super Smash Bros. series.
Shigeru Miyamoto himself has confirmed the following playable characters:
Pit (Kid Icarus)
Solid Snake (Metal Gear Solid)
Zero Suit Samus (the blue "no-suit" Samus from Metroid: Zero Mission)
Metaknight (Kirby)
Wario (Wario)
Under the direction of series creator Masahiro Sakurai, Super Smash Bros. Brawl will feature classic, GameCube-style combat -- not Wii-style motion-controlled combat. That means players who prefer to play the game with the traditional control setup can look forward to using the GameCube control-style they're already accustomed to.
"We found that trying to implement too much motion-sensory functionality can get in the way of the game. We're looking at keeping the control simple, as it has been," said Sakurai. "The Wii hardware has sockets for the GameCube controller, too. So I'll just say now that you may not want to throw away your GCN controller yet."
The game also features a range of new nasty toys, such as the ability to unleash a puppy from Nintendogs that will run up to the screen, put its paws up and obscure the view of the action. Mario, Kirby, Pikachu and Link have been confirmed as returning characters. Sakurai confirmed that Wario actually has a fart attack and that Solid Snake can use his trusty cardboard box. In the video trailer, Snake gets out of the box and says "It's showtime!"
"We thought a lot about what to do with Snake and his moves in Super Smash Bros. Brawl," said Sakurai. "As you all know Snake walks around with a gun, but with Super Smash Bros. I didn't want to bring in a lot of real weapons. So that was a real challenge. But conversely, if we could use things like rocket launchers and other explosives, not only would that be fitting for Snake, but it would work for the other characters. But who knows. Maybe Snake will exclusively use explosives throughout the game."
Sakurai said the decision to include Solid Snake when Hideo Kojima himself practically "begged" to include the Metal Gear character in the last Smash Bros. game. When asked about the possibility of Sonic the Hedgehod appearing in the game as well, Shigeru Miyamoto said: "There are probably possibilities for other third parties as well, and it maybe that even know there are corporate discussions going on about including some of these other characters."
Even better, the game will be fully online playable in addition to featuring a robust multiplayer mode. "My plan is to include Wi-Fi connection compatibility and online functionality. One of the primary reasons Super Smash Bros. Brawl was created was that Nintendo, when taking Wii online, wanted to have Smash Bros. to do that," added Sakurai.
The bad news is that Super Smash Bros. Brawl will no longer be a Wii launch title, but will instead be released in 2007.
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