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

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

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

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

Here’s another juicy rumor! According to Go Nintendo, Seaman might be making its way to the Nintendo DS. Based on a rough translation from Yoot Saito’s blog, the game looks to be a port of the original Dreamcast version.

Siato, the developer behind Seaman, was last said to be developing a Nintendo DS game that would utilize the system’s wireless networking features and built-in microphone. Let’s hope it’s Seaman!

Tags: Dreamcast, Nintendo DS, Rumors, Seaman, Yoot Saito

Matt Casamassina from IGN.com recently posted an article claiming several reliable sources point to an April 4th North American launch for the Nintendo DSi. They also mentioned it will retail for US$179.99.

Multiple sources close to Nintendo tell IGN that the company is gearing up to debut the anticipated successor to its DS Lite handheld during the first half of this year in America. More specifically, the company has allegedly relayed to its partners that DSi will ship stateside in early April, most likely on April 4. Insiders assert that they have been told the system will retail for $179.99 when it launches domestically.

Read the full story.

Tags: Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi, Rumors

According to Destructoid, Nintendo was planning to release the Wii version of “Kid Icarus” in 2008 and was disappointed to miss their intended launch window. Apparently, the plan was to announce the game at E3 2008 and launch later in the year, but things changed once Factor 5 (the company rumored to be developing the title) faced financial difficulties and was allegedly forced to halt development.

Tags: E3 2008, Factor 5, Kid Icarus, Rumors, Wii