More Wii launch details:

- no DVD playback
- system will be region free
- A seperate Wiimote is $40
- a seperate nunchuk is another $20

It sounds pretty definitive the Wii will retail $250, will be released November 19 and will come package with Wii Sports.

I am totally sold.

Tecmo, makers of classics like Ninja Gaiden and Tecmo Bowl have agreed to add their lineup to Nintendo's virtual console.

The Fall is almost upon us which means the deluge of videogames that are released between September to December is about to begin.

I am actually curious how sales will do this quarter. On one hand the market has been stirred by all of the next generation hype. On the other hand developers must seem some drop of intrest durring the summer burst of mediocrity.

How many people just stop coming into their local store when they see almost nothing intresting released for almost the entire summer months?

Gamasutra has article about the Georgia state government’s plan to educate its citizens on how to use the ESRB rating system. One hand this is great idea from the government’s idea. It is nice to see governments trying to solve a problem by fighting ignorance rather than promoting it. Honestly, the best thing that can happen for the videogame industry is for consumers to understand that some videogames are meant for children and some are clearly not.

It does sort of beg the question though: if the ESRB is doing its job then why does the government have to educate people on how to use their rating system?

Ea has announced that they will are stepping up their attempts to produced games for the upcoming Nintendo Wii.

Joystiq has this quote from the makers the upcoming Red Steel for the Wii.

""[You'll] have up to four players. If they play together in split screens we can only say that the fight will not be only on screen."

Nerd-speculation abounds but images of running around my living room having mock sword fights with my friends is giving me chills of both joy and horror.

On a related note, I plan on writing the videogame industry (all of it) one letter everyday until someone makes a game that utilizes couch cushions to build a fort.

I am not really the world’s biggest Nintendo fan. I have not actually bought a Nintendo console since the Nintendo Entertainment System. What I am infatuated with is their public relations campaign.

European magazine Level had this interview with Nintendo Representative Shigeru Miyamoto. Miyamoto is one of the rare true “authors” in the videogame industry. He is responsible at least in part of Donkey Kong, Super Mario Brothers and Legend of Zelda. Which right now are really the only timeless franchises in the videogame industry.

Compare Miyamoto’s persona to any number of press releases and sound bites we have gotten from Sony over the past two months. Miyamoto comes off as a likeable individual who is enthusiastic about video games. Unlike any Sony representatives who seem to operate under the same logic that Paul Reiser’s character from Aliens employs.

Like here, here, here and here.

"It was a bad call Ripley, a baaaad call."

Joystiq has story claiming that there will probably be very little difference between the Wii and Gamecube versions of Twilight Princess. The Wii version will feature the promised motion-sensor controls but rumor has it there will be almost no improvement graphics wise.

I think this really illustrates Nintendo’s thinking with the Wii. They seem to be way more interested in building a loyal fan base than they are interested in making high performance games.

1UP.Com has a feature on way console game seem hopelessly mired in a number of hopelessly average technical issues.

If you follow the link the conversation essentially follows these lines, 1UP: “why are there problems with framrates?” Game designer: “Because we need to put more features into the game.”

See this exchange here:

1UP: Sixty frames per second seems to be the key to consistent fluidity. But even on the mighty 360, we see dips to half of that–or even less. Say, didn't the beautiful Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast run at 60fps seven years ago?

Nathan Martz: "Framerate is basically hardware divided by features. Even though hardware has improved substantially in the last six years, developer ambitions and gamer expectations have increased even more rapidly. It's also a question of how to spend valuable programmer and artist time–developers and publishers often have to choose between adding a feature and getting the game to run faster. Features tend to be more marketable than framerate, so most of the time features win out."

There is an exchange about bugs in console games that follows roughly the same lines. 1UP asks why games are published with technical issues and the designer tells them that it is because they often feel it is more important to include as many features as possible which detracts from time to resolve any in game issues that exist.

This is actually a bit chilling in the sense that what it really means is that the need for marketable games is outpacing the need for good ones. And buy “good ones” I actually mean playable. Games that have drops in their framrates or that are laden with glitches will eventually turn the market away.

The average age for console gamers skews older every year and as the market skews older so to will the expectations of that market. One day console companies may that they have alienate the majority of their fanbase.