Latest Wii, Nintendo DS, Game Boy, and GameCube news, screenshots, and game previews

According to recent reports, Brighter Minds Media, publisher of the successful World of Goo for Nintendo’s WiiWare, recently filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This is extremely bad news, especially since World of Goo was so well received.

Tags: Brighter Minds Media, Recession, Wii, WiiWare, World of Goo

At Nintendo’s financial briefing held in Japan, company president Satoru Iwata made a comment about what to expect at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).

What we are looking at are the cumulative Wii and DS sales through the end of 2008. Wii has been selling at industry’s record pace so far, and with new customers acquired by the gaming population expansion efforts, it is not impossible for Wii’s total sales to exceed the final install base of PS2. Wii still has much more room for expansion. We can expect more sales of software in the next fiscal year than in the current year. With what kind of software is Nintendo going to achieve this goal? Well, it will be shown at E3 to be held in the U.S. this June.

It seems Nintendo has big plans for the Wii at this year’s E3. I wonder what kind of games can we expect to see? Mario, Zelda, or perhaps Kid Icarus? Then again, Iwata could simply be referring to games we’ve already seen, such as Wii Sports Report.

Tags: E3, E3 2009, Electronic Entertainment Expo, PlayStation 2, PS2, Satoru Iwata, Wii

Square Enix today hinted that players might be able to go online to “expand” upon Dragon Quest IX. No details were given but many are hoping for downloadable content such as additional quests.

Dragon Quest IX is scheduled for a March 28th release in Japan, exclusively for Nintendo DS. A North American release date has yet to be announced.

Tags: DLC, Dragon Quest, Dragon Quest IX, Nintendo DS, Square Enix

According to “several credible sources“, a touch screen-enabled version of the PlayStation Portable (PSP) is on the way soon. Considering the success of the Nintendo DS and iPhone, I don’t find this hard to believe.

According to our sources, the PSP 2 will feature a widescreen multi-touch interface comparable to that of the iPhone for both in-game control and menu navigation. Unfortunately, we were unable to secure any additional details on the alleged new system, but this latest batch of rumors seems to fall in line with other recent claims orbiting the vast recesses of the internet.

A Sony representative recently denied the rumors.

Tags: PlayStation Portable, PSP, Rumors, Sony

Here’s an update on Brownie Brown, thanks to Siliconera:

Shinichi Kameoka, President of Brownie Brown, tells us, “I’d like to try making games for the Wii. We’re optimistic about it and looking into it.”

Brownie Brown’s history is entirely made up of portable titles like Sword of Mana, Magical Starsign, and the Japan-only Magical Vacation. On the prospect of downloadable games like WiiWare and DSiWare Kameoka-san explains, “we’re really interested.”

Brownie Brown also had a hand in developing Mother 3. While it’s way too late for Nintendo of America to backtrack and release Mother 3 as a Game Boy Advance game they could port it to the Nintendo DS. “If we were asked to make one [a DS version of Mother 3], then we would definitely like for fans abroad to play the game,” Kameoka-san said.

I know a lot of gamers were disappointed Mother 3 didn’t make it to North America for the Game Boy Advance. A rumor was printed in the August 2006 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly claiming that “Nintendo would release an EarthBound compilation for the DS, complete with touch-screen functionality”. Let’s hope the rumors are true!

Tags: Brownie Brown, DSiWare, EarthBound, Mother 3, Rumors, WiiWare

Ubisoft president Yves Guillemot today announced several new games for the 2009/2010 fiscal year and also mentioned “that Ubisoft is indeed working on a MotionPlus-sporting Red Steel 2, but declined to discuss any details about the game.” If all goes according to plan, expect to see Red Steel 2 on the Wii before March 2010.

Tags: Red Steel 2, Ubisoft, Wii, Wii MotionPlus

Sequel to the very successful Mario & Sonic at the Olympics for the Wii, Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympics was hinted at by a Spanish Nintendo magazine and confirmed by sources talking to IGN.

IGN’s done a little digging, though, and has independently confirmed that the game is in development and set to be announced in the next month — which, by the way, really isn’t hard to believe given the astronomical sales figures for the first title in the franchise.

Look out for more coverage on the sequel when it’s officially unveiled. Until, let the speculation wars rage on about which winter games will and won’t make the cut, and just as importantly, whether the title will support Wii MotionPlus, as we all hope it will.

Tags: Mario & Sonic at the Olympics, Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympics, Rumors, Sega, Wii, Wii MotionPlus

Take a look at this excerpt from a recent Ubisoft job posting:

Ubisoft Entertainment, a global leader in the video games and entertainment software industry, is currently seeking a full-time Lead Designer. We are looking for a highly talented, motivated and experienced person to help guide the creation of an exciting new cross-platform music based game.

• Categories: Game / Level Designer / Creative Director
• Experience Required: 10 yrs
• Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii
• Minimum Education Level Required: Bachelor’s Degree
• Work Site: On site

Could this be Ubisoft’s answer to Rock Band and Guitar Hero?

Tags: Guitar Hero, Music, Rock Band, Ubisoft, Wii

A source talking to IGN claims that Sega laid off 30 employees earlier today.

Despite analysts’ beliefs early last year that the gaming industry would not be hit hard by the world’s economic strife, that has not been the case. Adding to the list of publishers cutting overhead is SEGA of America, which today laid off 30 employees. This according to a source inside SEGA.

It’s unknown if or how this might affect the releases of upcoming SEGA titles.

Update: This was later confirmed by Sega.

Tags: Layoffs, Recession, Rumors, Sega

A couple very interesting rumors coming from a popular Wii blog.

The first is that troubled developer Factor 5 is now active again and continuing work on its current projects; we should “expect an official announcement within two weeks”.

Could this mean that Kid Icarus for the Wii — previously rumored to be on hold — is back in development?

The second rumor concerns developer Silicon Knights. Silicon Knights was responsible for Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (GameCube) and Too Human (Xbox 360). Allegedly, there is “reason to believe” they may be working on a Wii title.

Do you think we’ll ever see a sequel to Eternal Darkness on the Wii? Again, these are merely rumors so let’s keep our fingers crossed!

Tags: Eternal Darkness, Factor 5, Kid Icarus, Rumors, Silicon Knights, Wii