Xbox was the first out of the online network gate with Xbox Live in 2002. Sony got into the swing of things four years later with PSN (though the paid subscription arm of their service, PSN Plus, just launched in 2010). At long last, Nintendo has decided to step up to the plate with the “Nintendo Network.” Read more »
Because I love you, dear reader. That’s why I scoured through all of the Black Friday ads to compile this list of the best deals for scoring quality gaming hardware at deep discounts. ‘Cause if you’re going out on Thanksgiving night to wait in line in the cold, darn it you should know if it’s worth it! Read more »
The 3-minute animation that opens The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has leaked, and you can watch the whole thing right here. It’s a beautiful, watercolor-on-parchment style animation, though the English translation of this Japanese version is typically broken — and kinda cute. Read more »
Now that Nintendo has announced its intentions to jump the generational gap with the forthcoming Wii U, chatter around the industry inevitably must turn to its two chief rivals, and when they might answer Nintendo’s challenge with brand new hardware of their own. Read more »
E3 isn’t even halfway over yet, but many are saying that Nintendo has already stolen the show with the announcement of its next home console, dubbed “Wii U.” (I wouldn’t have thought it possible for Nintendo to come up with an even worse name than “Wii.”) Yes, it’s a successor to the Wii, using the same basic aesthetic and overall thematic elements, so Miis aren’t going away anytime soon. And yes, it incorporates motion control. But the big innovation is the controller: a large device with a built-in 6-inch touchscreen right in the center. Here’s our exhaustive report, including Wii U’s graphics capabilities and how that new controller will change Read more »
E3 is just two weeks away! Can you believe it? What delicious (and what vaporware) delights will E3 2011 bring to gamers? What surprises do Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony have in store for their pre-E3 media extravaganzas? What games will walk away from the week with the heaviest buzz? It’s impossible to predict what secrets all the major companies have up their sleeves, but here’s n early look at what we have to look forward to. Read more »
The long-rumored successor to the Wii is real, and it’s going to be unveiled at E3 in June. Compiling data from various reports, it sounds as though Nintendo is going well beyond a “Wii HD,” instead trying to revolutionize the industry once again with something unprecedented. Dubbed “Project Café” by Nintendo, the new console’s existence and planned debut were first reported by Game Informer, citing numerous anonymous inside sources. Corroborating reports stated that Nintendo’s next-gen system will offer HD graphics thanks to system specs on par with the current-gen Xbox 360 (some reports suggest it’s more powerful than both the 360 and the PS3), and a new controller that could Read more »
I feel funny calling this a game review, because a game this is not. But it does run on a standard Wii game console. uDraw Studio, the software that comes packaged with THQ’s uDraw Game Tablet, is essentially an artist’s studio and palette, providing all of the tools needed to create your masterpiece. So is it possible to create something that could actually be called art? With a lot of patience and practice, yeah, I think so. The uDraw tablet itself might seem at first pass to be a glorified steering wheel that you pop your Wii remote down into and then shake around to manipulate various games. It’s true Read more »
So there’s a press release making the rounds today about how Microsoft’s new Xbox motion controller Kinect has sold one million units in its first 10 days. This is big news for Xbox because Microsoft has made big noise about wanting to sell 5 million Kinect units by the end of this year, and they claim that these initial numbers put them on track for that. But I can’t help wondering how this news stacks up to Kinect’s motion-controlling competition. First-week ticket sales mean everything at the box office, so why not apply that same prognostication factor to gaming? One million units in ten days is a great pull quote, Read more »
Anytime a game is ported from PC to console or vice versa, it’s always an exercise in showcasing the strengths and weaknesses of each platform. This week’s release of The Sims 3 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii — the first ever Sims game to receive a full-fledged port from PC to all three consoles — is no exception. (A Nintendo DS version is also being released, but it’s practically a different game altogether.) Maxis and EA Games have long tried to bring its juggernaut franchise to consoles, but always wound up altering the gameplay to suit what they perceived as console players’ need for focused tasks. These past console Read more »
