Sorry “Wii Fit” fans. While the upgrades in “Wii Fit Plus” may not seem worth spending fifty more dollars on another disc, current balance board enthusiasts will not be able to download the new package’s upgrades. During a Nintendo booth tour at E3, Nintendo PR rep Kit Ellis confirmed that the new yoga and strength exercises, as well as the workout planner, in “Wii Fit Plus” will not be offered via WiiWare. He also confirmed that the current “Wii Fit” software will be completely phased out, so anyone buying a “Wii Fit” and balance board package in the few months before “Plus”’s fall release will be out of luck.
Shigeru Miyamoto picked up a controller to demonstrate some of the fun you can have in “New Super Mario Bros Wii” during the Developer’s Rountable. He was then killed by a penguin. It just goes to show, just because you’re a creative genius doesn’t mean that you have the play skills to pay the bills. While chatting about “NSMBWii”’s four-player platforming, Miyamoto played up the Wii’s horsepower, saying that the multiplayer was only possible thanks to the Wii’s processing power. Nintendo is knocked often for the Wii’s diminutive tech, but “New Super Mario Bros Wii” seems to making the very most of it. Still can’t play it online though.
This game is in the running for “Biggest E3 Surprise of All Time”. Just look at the facts. With Nintendo re-releasing the “Metroid Prime” trilogy on a single disk, you’d think they were winding down the series, trying to placate fans with one last package. Nintendo R&D 1 hasn’t worked on the “Metroid” series in five years and their last all new franchise entry was “Metroid Fusion” in 2002. And Team Ninja, well, “Dead or Alive” and “Ninja Gaiden” aren’t exactly games that jive with Nintendo’s family friendly, “Everyone’s Game” ethos. Yet here is “Metroid: Other M” in all its glory, co-developed by Team Ninja and R&D 1.
Shigeru Miyamoto, Eiji Aonuma and the “Legend of Zelda” team have been talking. They’ve been talking about what “Zelda” is and what a new “Zelda” can be. Sadly, they’re still in the discussion process. Miyamoto explained that as much as he wanted to have a new “Zelda” for Wii to show at E3 2009, they’re still in an experimental phase with the game. Not wanting to leave everyone at the Developer’s Roundtable empty handed, he shared a piece of concept art for the game with us. The image featured a very “Twilight Princess”-looking Link standing behind a shrouded, childlike blue figure. Not a whole lot to go on, but still a sip of cool water in a “Zelda”-less desert. Miyamoto hopes to have a WiiMotion Plus enabled “Zelda” to show at E3 2010.
Mario and Luigi are not unfamiliar with multiplayer gaming. The original “Mario Bros” had simultaneous two-player action that was equal parts cooperation and competition and “New Super Mario Bros” had its own devoted one-on-one competitive mode that saw the brothers battling it out for stars in endlessly scrolling levels. There has, however, never been anything quite like “New Super Mario Bros Wii”. It’s a traditional, old school Mario platformer with sidescrolling levels full of secret paths, hidden rooms, and littered with Goombas, Koopas, and edible, body-morphing mushrooms. Four people can play through these levels at the same time. Sweet.
While talking about his work with Nintendo Tokyo on the brand spankin’ new “Super Mario Galaxy 2”, Shirgeru Miyamoto revealed that the project started out brand spankin’ old.
The first thing you do in “Wii Sports Resort” is jump out of a plane. Your Mii, that adorable Nintendo-ified caricature of yourself, leaps into the air over Woo Hoo Island and plummets to the ground. This isn’t just your introduction to the game. It’s your introduction to the WiiMotion Plus’ one-to-one action. Your Mii’s whole body responds to every movement of the new Wiimote and lets you acclimate to the far more sensitive controls before throwing you into the game’s twelve sports.
In this evening’s Developer Roundtable, the indomitable Shigeru Miyamoto revealed that the sticky sweet tropical paradise that players romp through in games like “Wii Sports Resort”, “Wii Fit”, and the upcoming “Wii Fit Plus” has itself a name: Woo Hoo Island. What he did say is that he’s spent a long time thinking about treating a game’s setting like it’s a specific character, a location that he can use as a license in the same way that Mario, Link, and Samus carry their own multi-title, multi-genre game franchises. Miyamoto went on to describe possible games that would be set on Woo Hoo. Say you spot a hotel while going on your morning “Wii Fit” constitutional. Miyamoto wants to set a murder mystery there! Wii “Hotel Dusk” confirmed! Nah. That would rule though.
During a post-Developer’s Roundtable Q&A session, Shigeru Miyamoto was asked for his thoughts on both Microsoft’s Project Natal and Sony’s new motion controller. After some thought, Miyamoto answered that it’s Nintendo’s policy to test their hardware repeatedly, ensure that it’s accessible and easy to use for anyone, make sure it works, and only then announce it to the public. Oh. Snap. He went on to say that until this sort of technology is in the users hands, its impossible to judge it. Served, Microsoft and Sony. Served.
I love old news clips from the yesteryear of video games. Thanks to Gawker (via Mental Floss), let's marvel at this Inside Edition look into that wild craze, "Super Mario Brothers." Added bonuses include an appearance by show host Bill O'Reilly and some handy tips for beating the Hammer Brothers.
