Carmack Respectfully NOTHANKYOU.jpgs Wii Development

Id Software's John Carmack spends his free time playing Nintendo games with his son. They're currently making their way through Super Paper Mario. And when not playing that, they have a go at Mario Kart DS. So does that mean Carmack is keen on, say, Wii development? According to Carmack:

The Wii is one of those markets where Nintendo owns both the hardware and the software, but part of that is because they make such damn good products. So it’s the toughest platform for third party developers. We don’t have a software or content base ideally suited for it. So it doesn’t really play to our strengths and we’re pretty busy with other stuff right now. I’m thrilled that Nintendo has had this kind of success because they took some risky bets, and it’s always nice some bold thinking pay off for them. But I don’t think we’ll be on the platform.

At least he's honest!

Carmack on Doom, Rage, EA and More [Tom's Games via Go Nintendo]

Famitsu have uploaded a set of new screenshots for Dead Rising: Chop Til You Drop for the Wii. Here's what you should expect: helpful in-action shots displaying how the game's waggle controls will work for stuff like combat. You should also expect to see the Res 4-style shooting mechanic in action. Here's what you shouldn't expect: more zombies than the last time you saw it. Capcom may have said they're hoping to get around 100 on-screen, but that's obviously something they're working on later.
Wiiリモコンでゾンビを撃退！ 『デッドライジング ゾンビのいけにえ』の操作方法が続々判明 [Famitsu]

Nintendo Say Hey, Third party Games Do So Sell On The Wii

It's an ages-old argument levelled against Nintendo platforms: they're driven by the success of Nintendo titles, and third-party publishers have a rough time of it. An argument Nintendo are having none of! Nintendo of America's Vice President of Corporate Affairs Denise Kaigler has told GameDaily:

There is an assumption out there that just simply isn't true... We're setting the record straight. This is fact. We are selling third-party games and they are doing very well, and better than our competitors.

In between the "this is fact" and the "we are selling" bits, she points to a chart she was carrying (pictured), with data supplied by the NPD Group. Which...doesn't prove her point at all, showing only the Wii's total software sales in the first 19 months since launch, not a breakdown of first-party v third-party sales. And while the sales are very impressive, it's a bit of a stretch to somehow say that's "fact".

Nintendo: Third-Party Games Not Selling on Wii is a False Assumption [GameDaily]

EA Does Smash Bros. Sports With B-Level Celebs

If you've ever wanted to pit Olympic skater Kristi Yamaguchi against country singer Keith Urban in an inner-tubing battle to the death, we have to ask — what the hell is the matter with you? We might ask the same question of the idea men at EA, who have announced, by way of MTV, Celebrity Sports Showdown, a collection of Wii Sports-like challenges for Nintendo's little white wonder. Featuring good natured events like skiing, dodgeball, badminton and even curling, big headed B and C-grade celebs will battle it out virtually on Wiis this holiday.

The cast includes semi-known faces from the pro sports and music world, with folks like Nelly Furtado and Reggie Bush, making for an odd mix.

MTV has first video of Celebrity Sports Showdown in action, should you ever want to see Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas wield a curling brush with Wii caliber graphics. It's sure to... impress? Stupify? It's sure to do something.

Fergie Takes On Nelly Furtado In Badminton, Dodgeball, Jet Racing In New Wii Sports Game [MTV]

George Lucas, Dave Filoni Talk The Clone Wars Video Game

Entertainment Weekly got a chance to meet up with George Lucas, Dave Filoni and company to talk about the upcoming Clone War movie and video games.

The DS version is being developed by LucasArts Singapore and looks to be very touch-heavy, while the Wii version is being developed by Krome Studios in Australia. The LucasArts folks call Wii game the "ultimate light saber dueling experience."

Check out the whole interview over at EW.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Exclusive [EW]

Ex-Nintendo Exec Talks "Thin Line Between Gimmick And Great Gameplay"

David Gosen used to be the head of Nintendo Europe. He is not anymore. He is now Microsoft's VP of Strategic Marketing and LIVE for the Continent. He has this to say about his former employer, Nintendo and upcoming Xbox 360 title Lips:

I think it’s really important that you don’t underestimate the knowledge base of the consumer. What Nintendo have done with the Wii is truly fantastic –- there is no question about it. But I think sometimes there is a thin line between gimmick and great gameplay. We’ve seen some research that says 60 per cent of people who bought a Wii Fit play it once and don’t play it again. So we have to get the balance right, because what we are doing is bringing new consumers into the market for the first time in their lives they are playing games sometimes –- and we have to treat them with respect.

Seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to say! Here's that 60 percent poll Gosen is talking about, which we first broke from Japanese news site IT Media. (Note: David Gosen left Nintendo back in 2004. You know, back before they printed money.)

Q&A: David Gosen, Xbox [Develop via CVG] [Pic]

ASUS 'Eee Stick' Like Nothing Wii've Ever Seen Before

The engineers at ASUS have done it again, unveiling "another world's first" with the Eee Stick, a new controller that "translates users' physical hand motions into corresponding movements onscreen." It's so fresh, so revolutionary, so ahead of its time, that we can't even begin to wrap our heads around it.

According to the press release, it comes in three parts, an Activation stick, a Navigation stick and a 2.4GHz RF dongle. We love anything with dongles. It also has three operation modes, perfect for sports, action, racing, flight and beat 'em ups, as well as first person shooters and light gun games. That's pretty much everything!

Well done, ASUS. Well done.

ASUS Puts New Twist on PC Gaming with First-of-its-kind Wireless Controller [Asus via NeoGAF]

Design Your Own Board for Shaun White

Ubisoft is running a design contest over on their Shaun White Snowboarding site that give people a chance to design a real-life Burton snowboard and win a Wii.

Gamers get a chance to download a blank snowboard, fancy it up with their own designs and then enter it into the contest. Every other week until October, two of the designs will be selected to be included in the video game. Fans will than vote to decide which two boards they like best, both of which will be turned into real Burton snowboards.

According to the fine print, the winners selected on Aug. 15 will be added into the game "before it hits shelves" and receive a Wii and a Wii Fit balance board.

Art of the Ride

Wii Hack Does Region-Free Gaming (Relatively) Easily [Update]

There are things I love about the Wii, and things I hate. Wanna know what I hate? I hate its draconian region protection. My PS3 is completely region-free, my 360 is region-free for, oh, 50-70% of the games on the market, and both handhelds are 100% region-free. So being subjected to Nintendo's slow-ass international release schedule is maddening. Luckily, it looks like a mod chip-free workaround is imminent. In the wake of the Freeloader's demise, a dude by the name of Crediar has posted a vid of a Wii system menu hack that'll allow for not only region-free gaming (for both Wii and GameCube games), but region-free channels, and will even skip out those annoying health warnings. All courtesy of the homebrew channel. It's not out yet, but when it is, we'll let you know.

Wii Systemmenu hacks [DCEmu]

UPDATE - Crediar dropped us a line this morning to let us know the tool's gone live. Happy hunting.

Game Critics Best of E3 By the Numbers

You've had a chance to digest the raw data of who won what from the Game Critics Best of E3 awards. Now here's a bit of fuel for that angry fanboy deep inside you: A run down of all of the 2008 Best of E3 Game Critics Awards stats.

Platform Breakdown By Number Of Wins
Xbox 360: 8 (Down three from 2007)
PlayStation 3: 7 (Down one from 2007)
PC: 7 (Up three from 2007)
Wii: 1 (Same as 2007)
PSP: 2

But wait, that's just the tip of the iceberg. The Game Critics folks have also broken down wins by publisher. Electronic Arts took home the most wins, despite taking one less category this year than last year. Sony was in second with three total wins and Bethesda in third. Microsoft rounded up the list, while Nintendo didn't win a single award as a publisher.

Dead Rising Wii *Might* Get To 100 Zombies At A Time

Dead Rising was an average game made great by throwing, literally, hundreds and hundreds of zombies at you. The upcoming Wii version, being a Wii game, is obviously not going to feature hundreds and hundreds of zombies, putting the whole "makes an average game a great one" thing in serious jeopardy. But how many will it feature? Well, Capcom are hoping that they'll be able to squeeze 100 on there at a time. Still not a patch on the 360 version, but 100 on-screen bad guys for what is ostensibly a last-gen title would still be one hell of a technical achievement!

Read-a-long with Nintendo Power #232 (September 2008) [Aeropause]

"No Plans for Future DLC" For Final Fantasy My Life As A King

Square Enix really seems to have delivered a quality experience with WiiWare title Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King. In April, DLC for the city-building game was first released. DLC items were priced from 100 to 800 Wii Points and included buildings, new dungeons and ways to customize their avatar. Game site 1Up asked the game's director, Kenichiro Yuji, if there were plans for more downloadable content. He replied:

All DLC has been available since May 30. That's everything for now, and we have no plans for future DLC at the moment.

Wonder why that is...

Afterthoughts: Final Fantasy CC: My Life as a King [1Up via VG247]

You Betcha We're Getting A Hardy Boys Wii Game

The announcement that you knew somewhere in the back of your brain for that the game that you've all been waiting for is here: Yes, that's right, the Wii is getting a Hardy Boys game. Titled Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft, the game is already slated for the PC and follows Frank and Joe as they investigate a vault burglary — only to find themselves at the center of a major investigation! Jesse McCartney and Cody Linley (who?) from Hannah Montana (oh) will do the voicing duties. Don't think of this as a point and click adventure but a waggle and click one.

The Hardy Boys to appear on Wii [CVG] [Pic]

Hudson's Adidas ad sports title DECA SPORTS. Since putting the game on sale earlier this year, Hudson has shipped 700,000 copies to Japan, North America and Europe, selling 500,000 of them worldwide. That's a pretty good ship-to-sales ratio right there, folks!

『DECA SPORTA（デカスポルタ） Wiiでスポーツ“10”種目！』が全世界で70万本を出荷 [Famitsu]

The Great Virtual Console Switcheroo

As pointed out by Wired, over the past week or so, a number of publishers made announcements regarding today's Virtual Console lineup. Capcom said we'd get Mega Man 1, SNK said we'd get Samurai Shodown II and Hudson said we'd be getting Ys Book I & II. Instead, we got the shitty Master System version of Sonic and Splatterhouse. Not the worst update, sure, but nowhere near as awesome as the one we were promised. So what gives? Nintendo say:

A number of variables can affect a game’s release date. Therefore, the Wii-kly Update is the only authority for confirmed release dates of Virtual Console games.

Thanks for the surprise! Here's a hint: when the publishers themselves announce a release date, and you go and yank it, it's not a surprise. It's a disappointment.

Nintendo releases statement concerning Virtual Console release dates [Go Nintendo]

The Tecmo/Grasshopper developed, Nintendo published Fatal Frame IV for the Wii has in-game Nintendo-themed costumes. Right up there, that's Samus from Metroid in her Zero Suit. There are more images of the Zero Suit costume below as well as the Luigi costume. There's something fetching about a lady in overalls and a green shirt.

[Wii] 영 월식의가면 - 클리어특전 [Ruliweb via Go Nintendo via Aeropause]

Rock Band 2 Dates Slip Out

A friendly retail tipster sends us word that Rock Band 2 has suddenly popped up in their computer system. Better still the listings for the Playstation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 versions are all dated:

Xbox 360- September 14th

PS3- October 19th

Wii- November 18th

Hit the jump for further photo evidence.

Weekly Wii Update - Guns, Hedgehogs, And Splatterhouse 2

Finally, Sonic The Hedgehog for the Wii Virtual Console! Wait, didn't they already release this game back in the early days of the Wii VC? Oh, it's the 8-bit version for the Sega Master System (500 Points) that featured the chaos emeralds scattered throughout the six levels, rather than in bonus stages. Why would you want this version if you've already downloaded the Genesis version? Why indeed. Well there's always Splatterhouse 2 for the Genesis (800 Points) if you're looking for something meatier. And bloodier.

On the WiiWare side of things we have Wild West Guns (1,000 Points), the eagerly anticipated shooting gallery title from Gameloft. That is, Gameloft eagerly anticipated releasing it, and here it is. Good going, Gameloft! You show those non-believers that WiiWare isn't synonymous with ShovelWare!