The Games News

Reggie Fils-Aime has just been promoted for President and Chief Operating Officer for the North American division of Nintendo and prior to that, he held the position of Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Reggie caught the attention of the gaming world in May 2004 at a press conference, where he famously said “My name is Reggie. I’m about kickin’ ass, I’m about takin’ names, and we’re about makin’ games” and no wonder he has a cult status among Nintendo fans. Critics love him too, not just for his words but for what he is doing for Nintendo and has done for companies like P&G and Pizza Hut, making “miracles” for every company. At VH1, as a senior marketing manager he increased the channel rating by increasing the number of teen viewers. At Pizza hut, he introduced the Bigfoot Pizza, which was of course a runaway success.

The success stories about Reggie could go on but one of his major achievements in Nintendo was the marketing of Nintendo Revolution nicknamed Reggielution, a little tribute to the marketing guru. Reggie in a very short time, has become one of Nintendo’s trump cards and with his marketing skills is expected he will elevate Nintendo to the numero uno position.

Oklahoma, Louisiana, and now Minnesota seem to be great places to raise your children, especially if you are raising video game playing teenagers. Due to recent signings of the “Inappropriate Games” bill, minors who purchase M-rated (Mature) and/or AO-rated (Adult Only) video games will levy a fine of $25 dollars, instead of fining the retailer who sold the game to the minor. This poses a paradox of sorts: Why fine the minor who bought it when it was the retailer who failed to ask for ID that sold it?

Minnesota Representative Barb Gordon, however, tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill so that retailers would get fined as well. “It’s the retailers that buy the games or rent the games that know what they’ve got there. If they choose to rent those to children then they ought to pay the fine,” said Gordon. That’s one statement, if you’re a state government that is trying to pass a bill of this sort, which you need to heed to. If you are going to punish one, then you should punish all. Fine the minor who bought it, the retailer who sold it, and the company who made it. There should be no fine line anywhere in this equation. If you’re going to punish someone, don’t be biased.

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: (more…)

Has Sony been stealing Nintendo’s ideas over the past 20 years? With Sony’s new motion sensing controller, Nintendo’s UK president David Yarnton seems to believe so. Yarnton spoke to press recently and suggested that Sony has been copying Nintendo’s ideas since almost day one. Not only does Yarton believe that Sony has been copying Nintendo, but has also gone to bringing up the fact that Sony’s withdrawal of the rumble feature on their controller is also because a forgery by Sony.

If Nintendo has only begun to sense that Sony has been stealing their ideas, they have to wonder if that is the only thing they stole. Over the past 20 years, Sony has not only stole Nintendo’s mannerisms, but also some of the game developers that produced for Nintendo, Squaresoft for instance. It stands to justify that if things continue on their same course, then we may see more of this in the future.

With the console war coming to an explosion in the next few months, the war that everyone seems to be forgetting is the handheld battle between Sony and Nintendo. However, with the PSP and Nintendo DS competing with each other to become the handheld champion, a sleeper system has been released that will slow both systems sales dramatically. The Linux-based GP2X Game System combats with the DS and the PSP by bringing homebrew applications and more to their system, a feat that the DS and the PSP both are trying to stop.

With a dual core processor and its high pixel resolution, the GP2X Game System replays multiple kinds of video and audio formats and supports various codecs to compliment them. You can also enjoy emulation from systems of the past, including the NES, SNES, Genesis, and more. Electronic picture albums, electronic novels, and USB 2.0 support are just a few of the added benefits as well. At a mere $170, the GP2X Game System reasons to become a great addition to the handheld war and may surprise more than believed.