GameIndustry.biz wrote up a fairly extensive opinion piece about the power of the Wii U, have a read of this excerpt:

In theory, we could look at laptops here as an example of getting powerful chips working in smaller areas. The problem here is that high-power mobile GPUs are highly ‘binned’ – they’re the pick of the production crop of processors destined for a broad range of different graphics cards. Mobile parts are typically the very best chips, the cream of the crop, capable of great performance at low voltages. Nintendo would not have this luxury on a mass-production item with a single design, where high efficiency is the key to keeping costs down as much as possible.

Realistically, short of a major architectural shift to components based on smartphone tech – and lots of it – the idea of Wii U possessing next-gen rendering capabilities doesn’t make a lot of sense. We know that there’s no transition to mobile tech because the IBM CPU is an off-shoot of an existing line and the firm doesn’t make mobile CPUs. Similarly, while AMD has produced smartphone GPUs, none of them get close to the performance of the Xbox 360′s Xenos GPU. That being the case, the chances are that it’s a customised variant of an existing PC Radeon part: Japanese sources have previously hinted at a connection to the Radeon HD 4000 series – and a lower-end chip from that range would be a good fit.

With the IBM chip confirmed at a 45nm process – the same as the current Xbox 360 – the question then moves on to how the graphics chip is made. TSMC, the most probable candidate for actually producing the chip, has just moved onto a 28nm process, and will be ramping up production throughout the year. But any new node typically starts with low production yields, so Nintendo would need to either swallow the cost (Microsoft did this at the launch of the 360 with the then state-of-the-art 90nm Xenos GPU) or downclock the chip. It’s far more likely that sticking to the existing, established 40nm process for AMD GPUs would actually be cheaper for them in the short term – and would provide cost-savings in the future when the chip could be shrunk economically.

But let’s assume that Nintendo does push the boat out here. Even a 45nm CPU and a 28nm GPU in a box that small is still likely to cause cooling issues for an actual “next-gen” 360 beater. The more probable 45nm CPU/40nm GPU combo combined with the size of the machine suggests a far more likely scenario: that Wii U has a ballpark performance level with current PS3 and Xbox 360 titles, perhaps actually lower. Across the years, chip designs may have become more refined and efficient but it’s worthwhile to point out that almost all major increases in processing power have mostly come from shrinks in the fabrication process meaning that more transistors can be packed into the same amount of silicon.

The final nail in the coffin about a notional 2x increase in power over the Xbox 360 comes from Nintendo itself. At no point has the platform holder ever suggested that Wii U offers that kind of leap in processing power, an extraordinary omission considering the amount of money Nintendo would need to invest in this architecture. The focus of the platform holder’s message is of course on where the money has been spent: the tablet controller, with its zero latency link to the console – technology that must have been fairly expensive.

But is there anything in the package that could give the Wii U an advantage over the PS3 and Xbox 360, aside from the tablet controller? We should look at the commodities that have collapsed in price over the past few years, and could prove genuinely useful for a games machine. RAM is the obvious choice: a 1GB minimum wouldn’t break the bank and would help developers significantly. The pre-E3 rumour of 8GB of flash RAM also makes sense, especially when we bear in mind that there is no internal hard drive. The Wii U optical drive – almost certainly based on Blu-ray technology – could also be faster than its PS3 equivalent too. This may be useful bearing in mind that the lack of HDD would preclude mandatory installs.

Read More:

[GameIndustry.biz]

Zero Punctuation – Super Mario Land 3D (NSFW – Language)

[The Escapist - Zero punctuation]

Monopoly, Mario, and the magic of Dragon Quest combine!

Game Trailers – Game of the Year Awards 2011

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword – Review Round-Up

(click to enlarge)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Link’s Awakening:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Tetris:

Click here to view the embedded video.

via youtube (MinecraftA2z’s channel)

Pretty funny to see some competition being blatantly thrown out there for once. Hopefully we see a lot more of this.

via reddit

With two major releases this winter season, the Nintendo brand is said to be focusing its 3DS efforts on attracting casual gamers to the fold as the holidays approach. Representatives from Nintendo have recently spoken out on its desire to attract not just core gamers, but also older players and more casual gamers.

The two major Nintendo 3DS games coming out this winter are Mario Kart 7 and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. The “Mario” brand alongside the “Sonic” name should be a coop for Nintendo, as they look to use that recognition to bring more interest to the 3DS.  Mario Kart has long been a favorite franchise of casual gamers, while having the Sonic and Mario names together for the other release could also be an attractor for non core gamers.

The good thing about both releases is that they seem to have a heavy amount of focus on upgrades for core gamers, as well as the main attractions to non core gamers. Mario Kart 7 in particular is expected to have a heavily bolstered online community and access. The Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games release will feature major upgrades for handheld 3D with excellent visuals and mini games.

The United States representative for Nintendo, Reggie Fils-Aime recently spoke to Games Blog by highlighting that these releases will be targeted outside of the regular 3DS audience, as far as marketing goes. He said that this marketing strategy in no way meant that a move away from traditional Nintendo titles would be on the horizon.

Fils-Aime claimed that following the winter period, the 3DS could have a different target as far as games go, with a new showcase of games available for the casual gamer.  The 3DS will certainly be spotlighted this holiday season as it’s struggled since its release.

Nintendo is said to be expanding the digital landscape for the 3DS in the very near future as well. Gaming pieces will soon be available in the form of add on content for both physical and digital games. The eShop will also look to allow video content, as well as the gaming features that are currently desired.

Moving forward, Fils-Aime was adamant in saying that efforts involving 3DS will continue to “push the envelope with new, unique, and different experiences” for the console. Look for new 3DS content to appeal to a large range of people with specific titles that are diverse. Some new games could be targeted for older users, while others could appeal more to women. In the present, Nintendo is likely banking on the success of big brand names such as Mario Kart and the Sonic to help push sales in December.

Written By: NintendoFuse Contributor, Justin Taylor

It has been an interesting ride for Nintendo this year.

The holiday season is around the corner. No sooner had stores removed the last bit of Halloween candy than Christmas trees and Santa Clause lawn ornaments popped up in their place. Yes, folks, it’s time to shop till you drop and whether it’s amazing Black Friday deals or presents to wrap for the holidays–Nintendo couldn’t be happier.

Let’s face it. Nintendo has failed to see that huge “printing money” success that they had grown accustomed to when the Wii was in its early years. In fact, hitting a slump with sales has led to many, many a discussion on what is next for the Big N. What could Nintendo do to avoid losing it all?

So, in light of all of this financial talk–these opinions and predictions calling for Nintendo to “wake-up” and “get it” when it comes to video games and gamers, it’s somewhat refreshing to see that:

“Among all youth [8 to 24], the Nintendo Wii is the 2012 Harris Poll Youth EquiTrend® Video Gaming Platform Brand of the Year, followed by the Sony Playstation 3 and then the Nintendo DS.”

Now, Video Gaming Platform Brand of the Year does not mean BEST VIDEO GAME CONSOLE IN THE WORLD. But, what it does mean, and what Nintendo should take from that polling is that their brand still has enormous clout. It has amazing pull. It is recognized. It is known. In short, when you think video gaming–you are probably thinking Nintendo.

And Nintendo, Nintendo must see this. They must see that there is a delicate balance with brand recognition and product sales. People want to love Nintendo. And, by all the numbers, people do. But, with the recent decline in sales, Nintendo must do what all other great brand names have done when there seems to be a downturn in actual product transactions. Nintendo needs to listen, learn from their competitors, and adapt to be better.

The 3DS and the upcoming WiiU have a lot of gamers, and even some Nintendo loyal questioning if Nintendo is trying too hard to innovate and forgetting how to re-establish their connection with me and you. There isn’t a problem with being different–but there is a problem with being different at the expense of being practical. Again, this is a fine balance. What if Apple gave us the iPad, but not the ability to download third party apps? Nintendo needs to remember that being different will get their name out there–but at this point, it already is.

Gamers are not looking to be wowed every time Nintendo releases a system. It’s nice. But really, we already know who you are, Nintendo. What we need and probably, what we are all desperately hoping for is that you take all of this recognition and take a step back with it. Listen to the Xbox chatter, the PS3 homers, even the Apple app gamers and recognize what makes them each such amazing brands. If imitation is the  ultimate form of flattery, it wouldn’t hurt to take a page from some of these industry giants–even if it’s just a wink.

It’s Friday, so it’s time for another episode of the NintendoFuse Podcast! This episode is called “NintenDOOMED… NOT” because we have sales details for Nintendo and as usual, people are overreacting and proclaiming doom and gloom. However, it’s clear this isn’t the case and there’s lots of new information from Nintendo this week to prove it. In this episode, we discuss Disney Universe for Wii, new Super Mario 3D Land details, when to expect new details on Wii U, new features coming to the 3DS eShop, and MORE!. Plus, the music in this episode is from the new Kirby’s Return to Dream Land for Wii. And if you’re a 3DS Ambassador… don’t forget to check out our HUGE contest with LOTS of prizes! Also stay tuned for the start of the monthly live shows probably the second week of November. You can listen to the new episode above, or you can download it here or on iTunes here.

We hope you enjoy it and as always, feel free to post your comments/thoughts/suggestions. The NintendoFuse Podcast will be uploaded every Friday night, so stay tuned for more of the latest and greatest from Nintendo! And don’t forget that you can also catch up on the old episodes here, or by subscribing in iTunes by searching for NintendoFuse or by clicking this link. Enjoy!

If you were like me, you probably got excited to see that Nintendo’s avatar system was carried over to their newest handheld console. I had visions of using my Mii in various games, virtually traveling to another 3DS, connecting with the Mii already on my Wii, and playing around with my Mii in a virtual world. Unfortunately, many of those dreams have not seen the light of day.

Do not get me wrong. There is some Mii support on the 3DS. For instance, I can use the AR cards to make my Mii sit around my house. If I have a large enough card, I can even make him life-size or bigger. I can also use my Mii in the Find Mii mini-game. If I have StreetPass turned on, my Mii will visit another 3DS and visa versa. All in all, is that enough?

Other than the promise of an updated Mii Plaza later this year, and using them in Mario Kart 7 and Pokemon Rumble Blast, what else is coming for the Mii on 3DS? Will they be present in Animal Crossing? Will there be more connection between the Mii on our 3DS and Wii or Wii U? I guess only time will tell. Maybe we will find out more during the 3DS Event on September 13. In the meantime, please share with us what kind of 3DS Mii support you would like to see.

Most fighting games have a core 4 actions that players can use: crouching attacks, standing attacks, jumping attacks, and grabs/throws. And each of those actions can be countered or blocked by crouching guard, standing guard, or grab counters. It’s essentially a slightly more complicated version of rock-paper-scissors, but instead of guessing, players have a small window to react. This complex, hectic rock-paper-scissors game is what allows every battle to be unique and exciting.

So, how do you apply this rock-paper-scissors mechanic to an action game like Zelda, or a shooter like Uncharted? Well, the one thing these games lack that is present in fighters is a dynamic defensive system. These games need something equivalent to a fighting game’s crouching and standing block, different ways for players to defend against different types of attacks. And if they choose the wrong defensive maneuver, they’ll get punished. This applies to not just the player, but the enemy AI as well. Enemies have to utilize their defenses as much as the player.

Fighting games (specifically Street Fighter and Tekken) also utilize an automatic health regeneration system. Many people are of the belief that health regen makes games too easy. Again, that’s not the case for fighting games. Even though players receive a full health bar at the start of each battle, many people think fighting games are some of the hardest games to play. If players actually manage to win a fight, they probably don’t have much more than a quarter of their health remaining by the end of the match. But you can’t just give players all their health back after defeating an enemy in Zelda, so how does it apply in a game like that? Again, I’m not an expert in game design, but I know at least one solution that would work.

Elder Scrolls utilizes a system that allows players to regain their health by “waiting.” The wait system makes in-game time go by at roughly one hour per second. After waiting for as little as the minimum one hour, players will have a full health and magic meter. The catch is, players cannot wait when enemies are nearby. This prevents players from using the feature mid-battle to come back in full health. It also just makes sense, because if a player waited for an hour mid-battle, they would be standing in place for an hour while an enemy was attacking them. There are two key components to this type of health regeneration:

• Enemies are not nearby
• Players cannot be moving

Other games use somewhat similar styles of health regeneration, such as Shadow of the Colossus. The player can regain health by remaining still and crouching. There aren’t really enemies trying to kill you in Shadow of the Colossus, but I think it’s still applicable.

What it all comes down to is making each encounter with an enemy a battle that really challenges players, but is still fun. With a combat system that utilizes a variety of attacks and defenses by both the player and the computer, each battle will be unique and challenging. By giving players the ability to enter each encounter with their full health, the frustration of entering combat with almost no health is eliminated, making the game more enjoyable.

There are many more aspects of fighting games that other genres can benefit from, but I think these two are some of the most important, and will improve games more than the others.

Do you agree? Disagree? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment, or contact me in whichever way is easiest for you.

This article was written by Schmete, a member of our forums. Reposted with permission.

Original article

Joystiq’s, JC, sheds some light on this remake for the 3DS:

Most important of all, it feels, mechanically, like Cave Story. In my opinion, a great deal of the lasting appeal of the original comes from how responsive the controls are, and how enjoyable the basic jumping and shooting feel — think about holding the machine gun down to jetpack yourself across a chasm, for example. The jumping feels right (although I did have trouble making a few normally trivial jumps, a fact I attribute to having a harder time seeing the absolute last pixel from which to vault myself), the shooting feels right, for the Polar Star gun I had, at least; the enemies move like you’d expect them to, and appear in the same places; the lunchbox-like Balrog still rushes you in the same pattern … and is still way cute.

Of course, you can’t design the game entirely for Cave Story diehards. Nicalis has to ensure that new players can get into the new version — otherwise, what’s the point of releasing it again? “NIS has been incredibly helpful,” Rodriguez said. “They have testers who haven’t played Cave Story, which is great. We can see some of their feedback. You and I know the game really well, so you know, like, the door’s around here, and your brain kind of translates the rest for you. I don’t want to have any sense of frustration from new players.”

[Joystiq]

June 2nd 2009 was an exciting day for all of us Nintendo fans. Why you ask? Quite simply because Nintendo had announced the Wii Vitality Sensor at E3, another peripheral that would play nice with your Wii console. You simply insert your finger into the device and it would then read your pulse and send that information back to the Wii for processing. They didn’t announce any specific applications that would use the new peripheral but hinted at using it for relaxation. Having no examples to inspire people,  very interesting uses had started to pop up  like increasing the intensity of a horror game if it didn’t see an increase in your BPM .  E3 2010 rolled around a year later and the device wasn’t even mentioned! Representatives from Nintendo said that it was not the right environment to release information on the exciting peripheral. So here we are in 2011, nearly two whole years from the announcement of the Vitality Sensor and we haven’t heard even a crumb of information regarding it. It seems likely that the project was canned at some point down the road but who could really say. E3 2011 is quickly approaching and only Nintendo knows if it will be the next big thing to take center stage now that the 3DS had it’s time to shine.

What do YOU think happened to the Vitality Sensor? Let us know in the comment section below!