Today we bring you news about certain changes to the Nintendo website. After we experienced some security issues in the past, the community forums have now been closed for good. (...)
When the forums launched we felt they were an essential service for our many loyal site visitors, and the response to them suggested you felt the same way. Since then, however, a number of other online Nintendo communities have surfaced. Dedicated solely to providing a place for Nintendo fans to meet and chat together, these forums are looked after by people who are able to focus all their resources in one area.
Given the growth of all these other online communities, we think visitors to our website would be best served if we focused all our energies on putting together a new Nintendo-Europe.com that will offer Club Nintendo members a number of new features for an expanded experience with our products. (...)
We hope you will enjoy all the exciting new features on the horizon.
The Wii version, in development by Krome Studios, will also add an exclusive duel mode in which players can compete head-to-head with their friends to determine the ultimate Jedi Master.
"The Wii is a great platform for The Force Unleashed, because the console's motion-oriented controllers really bring the game to life," said Jim Ward, President of LucasArts. "We've worked hard to make the Wii version of the game unique in order to truly let you unleash the Force." (...)
LucasArts and developer Krome Studios are creating an equally enthralling version of The Force Unleashed on the Wii, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, and n-Space, Inc., is developing a version for the Nintendo DS™. All will feature the same storyline, with opportunities to unleash the Force in devastating new ways.
"There will be a star wars exclusive for wii, i just learned, light sabers and all. it will be revealed tuesday." 8th of May 2006
"My informant regarding the star wars game is a very senior industry insider that is not affiliated with a specific developer or publisher. he believed that nintendo will steal the show." 8th of May 2006
"I am a bit disappointed that lucasarts were unable to show their exclusive star wars game for wii at the show, featuring hot lightsaber action. apparently, you will have to wait until e3 2007 for that one. nothing has been officially announced, but remeber where you heard it first. but even without it, i am very confident that the wii launch will be one of the most spectacular launches in console history." 13th of May 2006
"Noone has ever denied the game. At E3, I have had a frank (and off-the-record) discussion with a very senior executive at LucasArts and he told me that they will show the game at E3 2007. Don´t forget: my original informer is a very senior figure in the industry. It´s a shame the title wasn´t shown this year. But my information is 100% accurate. Remember where you heard it first, people." 25th of May 2006
"I only received exclusive and confidential information that this game was in development (that was in May). It was my own assumption that it would be shown (with everyone associating the Wiimote with Star Wars). (...)
I know this: There is a Star Wars game in development for Wii that focusses on lightsaber action. I have no idea when it will be shown or when it will be ready." 5th of August 2006
"I have spoken to a reliable source about the Wii-exclusive Star Wars game I learnt about last year. This source has seriously questioned whether LucasArts would consider exclusives at all with their current titles being strictly multi-platform. The person I spoke to also questioned my original source. To me, though, such a game would make perfect sense, business-wise, since pretty much every Wii owner would gobble it up." 25th of August 2007
"During a technical demonstration for an unnamed Xbox 360 and PS3 Star Wars title, LucasArts made note to announce high interest in creating a Wii title in the Star Wars universe, with lightsaber battles in mind." IGN, 11th of May 2006
"The head of the LucasArts, the game division for "Star Wars" series creator George Lucas, told AFP a Wii game that lets players wield virtual light sabers is on the horizon." AFP, 27th of May 2007
Nintendo is working on a major overhaul to Nintendo.com to support the continued success of Nintendo DS and Wii. As we prepare for this huge site update, Nintendo must unfortunately close the Nintendo NSider Forums message boards indefinitely beginning Sept. 17, 2007. (...)
While their future remains uncertain, (...) remember also that the unique features available with Nintendo DS and Wii give Nintendo the opportunity to communicate directly with fans, while also enabling fans and friends around the world to communicate with each other. (...)
Starting Sept. 17, existing NSider Forums will be available in Read Only format for one week. Private Messages will be disabled. On Monday, Sept. 24, the forums will be removed from public view.
The Nintendo NSider Forums have been indefinitely closed. (...) We know that this may come as disappointing news to you, but we want you to know that we sincerely appreciate the contribution you've made to the community. The Nintendo NSider Forums would not have been the same without great contributions from Sages like you. Even though the forums have closed, we still value your opinion and care about what you think.
We have created an online survey exclusively for Sages to get your feedback on the Nintendo NSider Forums.
The NSider forums were always maintained in a spirit of ´laissez faire´ and I welcomed that. While reasonable but critical posts (mine included) are regularly deleted over at the Sony PlayStation forums, NSider allowed a high degree of criticism, even obvious trolling and flaming. Overall, I believe that the forums were self-regulating, with so many reasonable posters, Sages and Knights of Hyrule keeping stupidity and ulterior motives at bay.
I would have wanted a system like NeoGAF, though, where thread-posting rights are a hard-earned luxury and are often and easily revoked. I am shocked to see NSider closing shop and can only hope that this great community is only closed temporarily. With Nintendo´s tremendous success, gamers need a free and open platform like this one.
We have temporarily suspended the community forums as we're resolving a security issue. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused. Thank you for your patience in this matter.
According to data to the end of July (the end of August in Japan), people have bought 9m Wiis, 8.9m Xbox units and 3.7m PS3s.
The data is based on sales figures from Enterbrain in Japan, NPD Group of the US and GfK of Germany, which tracks European sales.
Warner Bros. is being courted by both camps and believed to be mulling over a lucrative offer that could bring such popular titles as "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" into the HD DVD camp, according to Hollywood insiders who requested anonymity because the talks were confidential. (...)
Blu-ray is the leader, with seven of the summer's 15 biggest box-office performers headed for exclusive release in its format, including "Spider-Man 3," "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," "Ratatouille," "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," "The Simpsons Movie" and "Superbad."
Warner Bros., however, could change the balance of power. The last major studio backing both formats, Warner has the leading market share in high-definition disc sales, giving it clout with retail chains.
[The article] was based on information that's a couple weeks out of date. This "offer" from Toshiba that the piece speaks about was apparently the one made the week Paramount and DreamWorks went HD-DVD exclusive. Our sources are telling us that Warner rejected that offer, preferring to stay format neutral. This offer thing being reported today is apparently old news.
Of course, I have already gone on record saying that PlayStation3 will stay in third place (kind of ironic when you remember that was a marketing slogan for the PS2) and you will have to agree that Sony is in a bit of a pickle. Obviously, the high price is the primary barrier to success and, given SCEI's financial situation, there was little the company could do about it up until now. Introducing a slightly upgraded model, outphasing the bottom-end one and then lowering prices meant that the status quo in terms of price remained - with a slight hardware upgrade thrown in. A disastrous move, no doubt.
The recent starter pack bundle managed to move units and put the PS3 ahead of the Xbox360 in terms of monthly sales in Europe (and the US, I believe). But still, Sony has not even managed to sell half of the units Microsoft has sold. And no developer or publisher is going to make any allowances for the Xbox360's headstart. The only figures that matter are installed hardware base and tie ratio.
In fact, Sony has been losing exclusive third party support at an alarming rate and this trend is set to continue. Many companies (like Electronic Arts) have openly admitted to betting on the wrong horse and announced an adjustment of resources towards Nintendo and away from Sony. And these decisions will not really show until early 2008, which is when a lot of people expect the PlayStation3 to finally start selling. But what games, apart from 'MGS4' (which is all but certain to be released on the Xbox360), are going to move the hardware?
Test yourself and write down all the outstanding exclusives you can think of for each console - and depending on your preferences either Xbox360 or Wii will come out tops. But I seriously doubt that any gamer will be able to list more than a few such titles for the PS3.
At last, Sony is taking measures to get that price down.
Sony Financial Holdings will float $3 billion worth of shares, which is expected to benefit SCEI to a large extent. Some analysts predict that this measure is intended to reduce the PS3's price tag. Is that a good thing? Sure Will it help? Probably not. Even with such a significant cash injection, a $100 price drop (a real one, this time: reducing the top SKU to $499) is all they can stomach. This would still leave the Xbox360 more than $100 cheaper with an undoubtedly better and more plentiful selection of games. And with Blu-ray's recent major setback, consumers are unlikely to consider this feature as a worthwhile bonus.
Dave Karraker's departure from Sony is not the first one, although it is the most high-profile person leaving voluntarily (which can hardly be said about Ken Kutaragi). Moreover, Karraker's tenure with Sony was more of a stint. And this is the main reason why his departure must be seen in this context, as an indicator of Sony's continuing up-hill struggle. While a few commentators are wondering why Karraker left when the PS3 is firmly on the road to recovery, I am asking: is it?
EDIT In an interview with 1UP, Karraker discusses his departure from Sony and his new job with a vodka merchant and remarks: "Still waiting for that pithy pun headline." Just for the record: I was considering the headline ´Sony PR director turns to alcohol´.
EDIT Square Enix president Yoichi Wada has criticized Sony for not marketing the PlayStation3 consistently. Speaking to Reuters, he told the company to "straighten up" their marketing strategy for the console.
Sony first unveiled the PS3 as a mighty home electronics product. Then, after some badgering from game companies, it shifted the position of the console closer to a game machine. (...) [The future of the PS3] would be tough if its marketing strategy is not straightened up.
