The latest iteration of most famous Italian except maybe The Godfather is finally here!

And it was about time, following Shigeru Miyamoto’s promise at Game Developers Conference 2007 that we would be able to play it this year. This is a game we all have been expecting, drooling over trailers and demo gameplay videos over the web; it’s reception was so successfull that one editor from 1Up.com said “this is the best example of how to use a Wii”, while another editor, this time from IGN stated that “the game was perfect”. But that remains to be seen.

By the end of the week, Super Mario Galaxy should be available in Japan, with rest-of-the-world releases scheduled for 12 November and 16 November, in America and Europe respectively.

On a personal note, coming from Miyamoto, this should prove a good game design leson, if not a great game.

Nintendo UK officials claim that the Wii is the fastest console ever to achieve over a million units sold in the UK.

The company quoted data acquired from Chart-Trak in stating that the Wii has passed the million mark in just thirty-eight weeks. Additional, non-public data from Chart-Trak also underlines the fact that the Wii has held a whooping 68 percent of the entire home console market in the UK, while its little brother, the Nintendo DS broke all records with a share of 86 percent of the handheld console market in the UK.

David Yarnton, Nintendo UK General Manager, has also stated that this is a testament to the accesibility and appeal of the Nintendo consoles, as even in traditional low videogames sales periods, the non-stop demand for the Wii helped achieve this record.

Comparing the Wii with its main competitors that have already passed that mark, the PS2 achieved 1 million units in fifty weeks, and the Xbox360 was even slower, reaching the milestone in sixty weeks.

With fans across the world buzzing about the most anticipated Nintendo release in their short history, Nintendo gave their fans a little something to drool over when they announced the first 16 games to be released for the Nintendo Wii. With an official announcement of the games to be released on the launch date, Nintendo flexed their muscles with some big named games on the list.

With titles such as Madden 2007, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid 3, Nintendo brings a lot to the table for fans and skeptics alike. With more and more launch titles to be named soon, all Nintendo can really do is sit back and wait to see what happens. If sales go the way most fans and Nintendo executives think they will, developers will be lined up to show that they believe in Nintendo’s motto: “Playing is Believing”.

The 16 Launch Titles Are: Continue reading →

In the upcoming showdown against Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft this holiday season, skeptics and critics seem to agree that Nintendo may steal the show this year. Months previous to E32006, the only thing most could talk about was the ongoing war between Sony and Microsoft, that the coinciding release of Halo 3 on the same day as the release of the PS3 would devastate the sales of the PS3, not at all factoring in the PS3’s outrageous price.

However, since the days of E3 and the public announcements of the Wiimote and Nintendo’s secret about the Wii (probably the under $200 secret), the Wii seems to be surprisingly pulling ahead in the console war. Without having Blu-Ray and hard drive capabilities, the Wii is focusing on their best selling series’ and their newest innovations to drive sales through the roof. Preordering hasn’t begun yet, but time will tell whether the critics are right in assuming the Wii’s victory in the war against Sony and Microsoft.

In a growing battle over which next-generation console is going to have the most power and bang for the buck, Nintendo just vaulted themselves ahead of the competition. Integrating Bluetooth and WiFi technology to the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo could almost guarantee that the Nintendo Wii will become the top console sold this holiday season, beating out such internet-boasting competitors such as the PS3 and the already released Xbox 360.

With Bluetooth and WiFi technology both accessible through the Wii, consumers will have the advantage of a no-cable system with attachments for the Wii (i.e. The Wiimote, headsets, etc.), and a high-performance wireless link for playing with friends across the endless gap that we call the internet. Grabbing Bluetooth and WiFi first, Nintendo takes the first step forward and beckons the competition to try and follow. The only question is if Microsoft and Sony will cross that barrier as well.