A Prediction From 15 Years Ago!

When I first saw the title for this article I thought they were kidding, alas I was wrong. A kid wrote about his dream console, and most of its details. The console was none other than the Wii. Roughly the details were all correct, and the wierdest part is he actually mentioned a game title for the Wii which is one that we are all waiting for, Super Mario Galaxies. Check out the article below and prepare for your mind to be blown.

Click the link below to see the rest of the details.
Source: Joystiq

-Secret322

Square Enix announces Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime

Square Enix has announced Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime as part of it's North American Summer Line-up. Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime lets you play as Rocket, a slime hailing from Boingburg that has been tasked with the mission to save his fellow slimes from the hands of a mysterious cartrl called "the Plob". He must rescue more than 100 unique slimes, from which he can select a crack team of warriors to aid him in the heated tank battles.

To survive the monsters in the puzzle-filled levels, you must customize your slime and his abilities, as well as improve the tanks by equipping them with new weapons and items. You'll even be able to use alchemy to create rarer and even stronger ammunition. The DS’s dual-screen technology allows you to view the menus and the action simultaneously during adventure sections, and gives a unique view both inside and outside the tanks during battle sections.

If you're not satisfied with fighting battle alone, you can compete against your friends in Wireless DS Multi-Card action for up to four players. The DS Single-Card Download play feature also allows up to 16 players to enjoy the game at once.

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime will be in stores across America this summer.

- DS_Deliver

New DS Headset

In Japan they are releasing the Nintendo DS headset, with its sleek design it can fit with your ds easily. If you dont feel like looking at the picture just imagine one of those bluetooth headsets without the bluetooth. The headset will go for 1200 yen which translates roughly into 10 USD and will be released September 12th, just in time for Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. The rest of the information can be figured out just by looking at the picture, so here it is.

Source: DS-X2

-Secret322

Another Nintendo Riddle

Nintendo has just released a new puzzle for Nintendo fans to try and figure out. It may have some information regarding the release date for the Wii.

"Perhaps the secret to the launch information for Wii is somehow encoded in the text of this news item. You might want to pore over it for a few hours before staying up all night.

Oct. 9: Clubhouse Games
Oct. 16: Nintendogs (Dalmatian)
Oct. 23: Magical Starsign
Oct. 30: Pokémon Ranger
Oct. 30: Children of Mana
Nov. 6: Elite Beat Agents
Nov. 13: Yoshi's Island 2
Dec. 4: Custom Robo Arena
Dec. 4: Kirby Squeak Squad

After looking at this I've seen that the word "pore" is in the wrong spot. They shouldn't have used "pore" the word that should be in its place is "pour" as a quick guess the first half of the word is part of "Po"kemon Rangers and the last half is in the release date for C"u"stom "R"obo Arena. Im not sure if theyre telling us that its between the dates for Pokemon Ranger which is October 30 and for Custom Robo Arena which is December 4. But, this is just alot of guessing on my part. Wii-X2 thought that the empty spots for release dates were a clue. If you have noticed every Nintendo game is usually released on a monday, all of these games are, but there are a few spots that are open including, October 2nd, November 20th, and November 27th. The rest of the December dates are left off because they didnt think Nintendo would release the Wii that late. Wii-X2 are guessing October 2nd because of the weird coincidence that when you put together the Roman Numerals VVII it spelles out "WII". Not to mention that the roman numeral V is 5 and I is 1, so when you put it together you get 5511, add both V's together and both I's together and you get 10 2 or the date, 10/2 so the date it shows is October 2nd. Might be going off the wall a bit but it is good decoding for them. All of what I am guessing and Wii-X2 are guessing is purely speculation, so dont believe the dates weve been given until Nintendo officially releases them. Stay with DSUpdate.net for any new developements for the Wii and DS.

Source: Wii-X2

-Secret322

Nintendo DS Goes over 21 Million Mark!

Article taken from Nintendo.com.

"Nintendo delivers on its promise to bring video gaming to the masses. In less than two years since its Nov. 21, 2004 launch, Nintendo has sold more than 21 million Nintendo DS™ systems worldwide. By comparison, Apple® shipped one million of its ever-popular iPod® music players in its first 19 months. The rate of Nintendo DS units being sold equates to 23 systems per minute – that's nearly one every two seconds – non-stop since launch.

"We're thrilled to be announcing this milestone today," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications, "especially since Nintendo DS was North America's top-selling video game system of any type in June. We attribute this success to Nintendo's overall strategy of offering something for everyone – from five-year-olds caring for their Nintendogs to 65-year-olds tuning their mental agility with Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day."

Nintendo recently launched the new version of its popular portable system, DS Lite, featuring a smaller profile and more brilliant display. Beyond appealing attributes such as dual screens, a touch screen, a microphone and seamless Wi-Fi play, DS popularity also is being propelled by a unique mix of software that appeals equally to mainstream players and those new to the category.

The Touch Generations line of fun and accessible games for all ages and skill sets features the red-hot Brain Age™: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day and Big Brain Academy™, as well as the enormously popular and innovative Nintendogs™. Nintendo DS sales success is also supported by video gaming sensations, New Super Mario Bros.® and Animal Crossing®: Wild World.

To satiate the video gaming palates of the 21 million Nintendo DS owners worldwide, Nintendo continues to increase its software offerings with Star Fox® Command, Mario vs. Donkey Kong™ 2: March of the Minis, Clubhouse Games™ and more games launching in the months ahead. Nintendo DS and DS Lite owners currently enjoy more than 130 Nintendo DS software titles – and 880 Game Boy® Advance software titles in single play mode – all playable on their portable DS systems."

Source: Nintendo

-Falco8

Star Fox Command Info

Star Fox is returning to its roots with a rendition of this acclaimed series making its first step on to the portable gaming scene. Originally titled Star Fox DS, Star Fox Command will put gamers in Fox McCloud's seat as the Star Fox team hunts down Star Wolf and the Venom Forces.

• Lylat needs help. Players hop into their Arwing fighter and fight through a unique branching storyline of missions, all rendered in gorgeous 3-D.
  
• Star Fox Command brings a whole new strategic element to the series with a commander’s view of the mission. Using the touch screen, players can draw the routes they and their teammates will take, then battle the enemies they encounter as they take over bases and strategically advance across the map.
  
• Players can blow their friends out of the sky as they dogfight with up to eight players over a local wireless connection or take on up to four players from around the world on Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

DS_Deliver

Two Big Publishers Praise The Wii

Eurogamer got the chance to interview EA's Jeff Brown, and here's what he gives his thought about the Wii:

“Everybody’s saying that the Nintendo Wii is so unique that it’s going to be the second system people buy, meaning if you own a 360 or a PS3, you’ll probably also buy a Nintendo Wii.”

“The funny thing is, some people say that discursively, like it’s some sort of dig at Nintendo - and what they don’t get is that if you’re second on everybody’s system, you’re first overall.”

“One of the things that we noticed after E3 is we thought, you know, we’re going to support Nintendo, they’ve got an extraordinarily loyal base of consumers all over the world, and we had a number of games we planned to make for Nintendo Wii. That said, we were very surprised by the level of enthusiasm we saw at E3 and subsequently for the Wii.”

Eurogamer also got to interview THQ's President CEO Brian Farrell about the Wii has well:

“We love the Wii - it’s all about having fun, right? Games are about having fun and sometimes this industry takes itself a bit too seriously. If you watch people with that Wii controller, it’s just fun to play with. A lot of our properties, like Cars and Spongebob and others, really map well… Potentially even wrestling - I can think of a lot of great things to do with the controller for that product as well…We’ve done exclusive titles in the past; we’re always open to having those discussions. I think what you’ll see with the Nintendo Wii, though, because it is a unique platform, you’ll see unique if not exclusive titles.”

Source: Codename Revolution

-Falco8

Pokemon Diamond & Pearl Update

Pokemon Diamond and Pearl is the new Pokemon games for the Nintendo DS. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl have a tonne of new features. One of those features is two player online battles !!!

I remember at school that pokemon was the only game that people used for multiplayer. There is a new system in the game that lets you dresse your Pokemon to add some individuality to your Pokemon when online.

For single player a weather system has been added and a night and day system. The game will have some 3D elements ( trees, houses, mountains, ect. ) and some 2D ( characters, grass, in houses, ect. ).

Pokemon diamond and Pearl are set for realse on September 28, 2006 in Japan.

- DS_Deliver

Wii Controller Revelations

The following comes from IGN:
"One of the big questions about the Wii-mote has remained how it will be powered. Official documentation on the topic offers some answers. The pointer will accept two AA alkaline batteries, which will keep it going for a considerable amount of time. If the precision aim functionality of the pointer is being used in games, the device will run for approximately 30 hours. If only the accelerometer functionality is being utilized, the Wii-mote will operate for 60 hours on two AA batteries.
The controller communicates with the Wii console via Bluetooth technology on a 2.4GHz band.

The Wii-mote features 6KB of "non-volatile" memory, whose exact purpose remains a mystery. IGN Wii speculates that this throwaway memory could possibly be used in conjunction with the Wii-mote's recently revealed internal speaker. It's also possible that this memory could enable players to store custom settings for the controller. However, official documentation does not specify one way or the other. In fact, Nintendo is currently offering developers no means to interact with the controller's internal speaker despite showing off games such as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, which spotlighted the hardware feature at E3 2006 in Los Angeles.

Recent photos of the Wii console's front flap showcase a button called SYNCHRO, whose purpose seems fairly obvious. The SYNCHRO button is, according to documentation, used to identify Wii controllers that can be used with the console. It assigns each controller a wireless ID number. Evidently gamers first press the SYNCHRO button on the console itself and then find and press another SYNCHRO button located inside the battery compartment of the Wii controller. Documentation also suggests that gamers can hold down the 1 and 2 buttons on the Wii-mote to accomplish the same task.

All of the buttons on the Wii controller are digital in nature. This includes (obviously) the D-Pad, as well as A, B, 1, 2, -, +, Power and SYNCHRO. The C and Z buttons on the nunchuk unit are also digital.

The sensor bar that interacts with the Wii-mote must be placed "above or below" the television set. The bar itself is about 20 centimeters in length and features two sensors, one on each end.

The Wii-mote's LEDs serve two roles. The first is to show which player is communicating with the console at a given moment. Player 1 will light up on the far left, Player 2 the next over, and so on. The second purpose is to illustrate battery life. Upon booting up, four LEDs blink when the controller has between 75% and full power. Three LEDs blink to show 50% and 75% power. Two LEDs blink to show 25% and 50% power. And one LED blinks to illustrate anything below that.

The Wii-mote features a built-in rumble motor that can be turned on or off. It does not offer varying degrees of rumble sensitivity. However, according to documentation, more intense vibrations can be simulated if developers rapidly trigger the motor on and off.

Light sources from fluorescent and halogen lamps, plastic, mirrors and more may occasionally interfere with the pointer, based on official documentation. To eliminate this interference, the pointer must identify the sensor bar and mark its two coordinates. When pointing with the Wii-mote, the unit is actually interacting with the sensor bar, which then translates data to the television, in effect simulating a direct aim to the television.

Interestingly, according to documentation the Wii-mote is able to act as something of an eye, measuring coordinates between 0-1023 on the X axis and 0-767 on the Y axis, which means that it is more or less seeing a megapixel image. Whether or not this data can be interpreted into visual information remains unknown, but we're not ruling out the possibility that the pointer could sub as a camera. This is, of course, purely speculative on our part, but stranger things have certainly happened - like, for instance, an internal speaker.

Developers tell IGN Wii that they are expecting to get classic Wii controllers in early September, which suggests that Nintendo is serious about providing this third input alternative for Virtual Console endeavors.

We contacted Nintendo of America for comments on our latest findings.

"There are many details that we've divulged about the console, but there is also more to learn," said the subsidiary's PR manager, Matt Atwood, in a telephone conversation. "However, Nintendo does not comment on rumors or speculation."

Nintendo's new generation console is officially set to launch sometime before the Thanksgiving holiday. However, rumors persist that the machine could debut as early as late October. Nintendo is expected to hold a briefing in September to reveal price and release date."

More as it comes

-Ultimate Zelda Guru

USA June 2006 Figures

Software Figures

1.) New Super Mario Bros. (NDS, Nintendo) - roughly 450,000 units
2.) GTA: Liberty City Stories (PSP/PS2, Take-Two) - ~400,000
3.) Brain Age: Train Your Brain (NDS, Nintendo) - roughly 200,000
4.) Cars (PS2, THQ) - ~180,000
5.) Cars (GBA, THQ) - ~160,000
6.) Hitman: Blood Money (XBOX360, Eidos) - ~160.000
7.) 2006 FIFA World Cup (PS2, EA) - ~150,000
8.) God of War (PS2, Sony) - more than 100,000
9.) Guitar Hero Bundle (PS2, Red Octane) - more than 100,000
10.) Kingdom Hearts II (PS2, Square Enix) - more than 100,000

Hardware Figures

1.) Nintendo DS - 593,000 (+307%)
2.) PlayStation 2 - 312,000 (+35%)
3.) Xbox 360 - 277,000 (+25%)
4.) PlayStation Portable - 221,000 (+39%)
5.) Xbox - 24,000 (- 8%)

Source: Cubed3

-Ultimate Zelda Guru

Japanese Sales Figures

Software - This Week | Total Sales

1.) New Super Mario Bros. (NDS, Nintendo) - 134,568 | 2,137,680
2.) Xenosaga Episode III (PS2, Namco) - 123,847 | NEW
3.) More Brain Age (NDS, Nintendo) - 50,634 | 2,700,187
4.) Tekken Dark Resurrection (PSP, Namco) - 49,426 | NEW
5.) Brain Age (NDS, Nintendo) - 33,771 | 2508373
6.) Rockman ZX (NDS, Capcom) - 33,652 | NEW
7.) Winning Eleven 10 (PS2, Konami) - 31,228 | 932,027
8.) Animal Crossing: Wild World (NDS, Nintendo) - 26,234 | 2,911,295
9.) English Training DS (NDS, Nintendo) - 21,956 | 1,239,164
10.) Super Dragon Ball Z (PS2, Bandai Namco) - 21,355 | 116,437


Hardware - This Week | Last Week | Total 2006 Sales

1.) Nintendo DS Lite - 149,454 | 153,566 | 2,789,663
2.) PlayStation Portable - 31,959 | 25,935 | 952,898
3.) PlayStation 2 - 23,332 | 23,133 | 783,379
4.) Game Boy Advance SP - 2,818 | 2,919 | 169,013
5.) Xbox 360 - 1,610 | 1,897 | 58,571
6.) Game Boy micro - 1,379 | 1,443 | 104,759
7.) Nintendo DS - 1,009 | 3,504 | 930,049
8.) GameCube - 934 | 1,002 | 56,470
9.) Game Boy Advance - 20 | 17 | 2,865
10.) Xbox - 13 | 8 | 1,589

Source: Cubed3

-Ultimate Zelda Guru

EB Games Not Taking Pre-Orders

Yesterday speaking to an EB Games representative I was informed that EB Games will most likely not be taking pre-orders at all for Wii or PS3. I have searched high and low and thus far the only place that is currently taking pre-orders is Toys R' Us. Stores are taking pre-orders for Wii games, but many will not be taking pre-orders for the systems. Please post in the comments of any other stores that you know of that are taking Wii pre-orders.

-Ultimate Zelda Guru

FF: III

It is now announced that a special edition DS will be launched alongside Final Fantasy III in Japan. Click here for an image of the special edition DS. Nintendo has also announced the release of a headset for use in the game which will cost approximately $10 US. It has not been announced whether either of the items will see a North American release, but it can be expected that at least the headset will head overseas. Also today a trailer of gameplay has been released for FF: III view the trailer HERE.

Source: DS Advanced

-Ultimate Zelda Guru

Pearl & Diamond

Nintendo has announced that the upcoming versions of the Pokemon franchise, Pearl and Diamond, will launch September 28, 2006 in Japan. No news yet on the release dates for North America or Europe. We'll keep you posted.

Source: Revo-Europe

-Ultimate Zelda Guru

EA Reveals Six New Wii Games

Article taken from EA.

"REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 13, 2006--Get ready to run, jump, drive, race and win with the flick of a wrist! Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS - News) today revealed six new games that are in development for the upcoming Wii(TM) from Nintendo. EA's dedicated Wii development team is crafting six custom-designed titles including new releases from the Madden NFL, Need for Speed(TM), Harry Potter(TM), Tiger Woods PGA TOUR ®, SSX(TM) and The Godfather(TM) franchises. Each title will remain true to the hallmarks of its franchise but is being designed to maximize the power of the Wii hardware and take full advantage of the uniqueness and innovation of its one-of-a-kind controller. The Wii version of Madden NFL will be demonstrated for a group of elite critics and industry media later today at EA's Studio Showcase 2006. Additional titles currently under development will be announced in the coming months.

Once we started to experiment with Madden on Wii, there was an explosion of innovation. Everyone in the studio is energized by the creative opportunity afforded by both the hardware and controller. By reaching into our catalogue, we are able to bring a fresh and distinctive experience to some of EA's most popular franchises. Creatively, the game play possibilities are staggering and endless," said John Schappert, Senior Vice President and General Manager, EA.

For more information about the franchises, please visit www.ea.com. For screenshots and fact sheets, please visit info.ea.com."

Source: Revo-Europe

-Falco8

Nintendo Reports DS Lite Sales in Europe

The Nintendo DS Lite has already hit stores in Europe on June 23rd, and the sleek dual-screen handheld has sold over 200,000 units on its first ten days, which pushed the total of European DS sales to 5 million untis.

Laurent Fischer, European Marketing Director of Nintendo of Europe, says,"Nintendo DS has introduced thousands of new people to gaming and will continue to expand the gaming population due to its ability to appeal to both gamers and non-gamers. During Nintendo DS Lite launch weekend, retailers across Europe said that they had never seen such a vast array of different people buying the product, everyone from business men to young women to grandfathers!"

The Nintendo DS lite is available in black and white priced around £100.

Source: Revo-Europe

-Falco8

Spongebob Wii in... October?

Today THQ announced that the Cars video game (movie tie in) will launch for Wii in November. THQ also announced that Spongebob Squarepants: Creature From the Krusty Krab will launch for Wii in October. It seems that more and more evidence is pointing to an October release date for Wii. Will Wii launch in October? DS Update will keep you up to date with the latest information.

Source: Wii-X2

-Ultimate Zelda Guru

Nintendo Rushing Launch Titles?

The Gaming Blog Kotaku has recieved new information about Nintendo's developement team. "Large development team working on a still to be disclosed Wii title just got a big kick in the *** from Nintendo". This could mean that Nintendo might be worried in not finishing all the launch titles in time for the Wii's debut. As for Alpha and Beta testing, those testing times have been shortened as to save time for developing. Hopefully Nintendo will finish all of their launch titles, including the ones that we dont know of yet, those are usually the best.

Source: Kotaku

-Secret322

n-Space Expansion

Developer n-Space has now created a new studio in Orlando, Florida. It is rumoured that the original north studio will focus on Wii titles while the south studio will focus on DS titles.

Source: Cubed3

Wii Motor Sports?

As many witnessed videos of plane flying simulation demos for Wii from E3, a game was never announced. A recent issue of Nintendo Power has suggested that there may be a compilation (similar to the Wii Sports package) that would be for motor sports. Nintendo has not decided yet what to do though as the game has not been announced. There is the possibility that they could be included into the Wii Sports package, be made as seperate games each, or be cancelled altogether. More news as it comes.

Source: Revo-Europe

-Ultimate Zelda Guru

Nintendo Responds to Wii Release Date Rumors

Bloomberg.com got the chance to talk to Nintendo of Japan spokesman, Yasuhiro Minagawa about the Wii release date rumors. Minagawa-san states,"No change in our plan to release the console in the last quarter of this year..." He also talked about launch date and price saying,"Planning an announcement in September and it may be causing some confusion."

CNN reported few days ago that the Nintendo Wii might be released October as September being the "dark horse candidate".

Source: Revo-Europe

-Falco8

Bush Tests his Brain Age

The president of the United States of America, George W. Bush, recently turned 60 and Nintendo was gracious enough to send him a gift. Nintendo sent President Bush a new DS Lite and a copy of Brain Age. The gift was accompanied by this letter:
Dear President Bush:

Happy Birthday!

Don't worry, turning 60 is an exciting milestone. As you know, you've joined millions of other baby boomers in an invigorating new decade of your life. And, like many boomers, you may be looking for ways to keep your mind sharp. That's where we come in.

Please accept our gift of a new Nintendo DS Lite system and a copy of Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day. You now join millions of people around the world who have fun challenging themselves with Brain Age. If you have never played a video game before, don't worry. Brain Age is part of our new Touch Generations brand, which includes games that are easy for people of any age - regardless of their video game experience - to pick up and start playing immediately.

It's obvious you don't have a lot of time to play games, which makes Brain Age such a great activity for you - just a few minutes a day with more than 15 daily training tests will help keep your mind sharp. Training tests include categories like math, reading and memorization. Try it for a few days and watch your score improve. Brain Age also comes with more than 100 sudoku puzzles - these could make your next long flight on Air Force One a bit more fun! (Perhaps copies of Brain Age for journalists joining you on your next flight would be a nice distraction!)

Have fun exploring Brain Age with your Nintendo DS Lite and be sure to let us know your brain age!

Have a tremendous birthday!

Sincerely,

Your Friends at Nintendo

Source: Nintendojo

-Ultimate Zelda Guru

In other news Prime Minister of Canada, Steven Harper, and President Bush met yesterday to discuss issues of softwood lumber, border security, and more...

Wii Enters Manufacturing?

According to an analyst mentioned in a recent CNN article, it has been suggested that the final Wii hardware is being manufactured for launch. If this is true it would mean good things for both consumers and developers. Having finalized hardware would allow developers ample time with the final developer kits and would also mean that there would not be a shortage of Wii hardware come launch time. Nintendo has not commented at this point in time, but we'll keep you posted.

Source: IGN

-Ultimate Zelda Guru

Wii Early Launch?

CNN is now predicting that Wii will launch sometime in October, and a September launch is not out of the question yet.

"...Industry observers - and insiders - say they expect the system to be available in October, with late September a dark horse candidate...Indeed, the company appears to be already manufacturing final retail units of the Wii, according to a June 21st analyst's note from P.J. McNealy of American Technology Research."

Read the full article: Here.

-Ultimate Zelda Guru

Write Your Own Story on the DS

The game is called DS Electric Library, a digital novel that you can read with your DS. However, unlike most novels that you most definitely just browse through while reading, this novel gives you a chance to alter the story written.It works much like those children's book named "Choose Your Own Adventure" wherein your choices affect what happens next in the story.

Unlike RPGs, the game is heavily text based, so make sure you're ready for a read. The Electric Library's first shot at this novel enterprise in the DS is called "Alison", a story of a girl who has a dream of flying her own plane for the Russian Federation. When an important person from the Russian Federation was kidnapped, Alison and her friend Bill are off to save him from the enemy's hands.

As you browse through the pages of the story, you can also view illustrations of it.
More so, special events within the novel also happen. If you click on a particular button at a particular event, it could lead you to a mini-game. I can only assume that this is one of Nintendo's venture in making their handheld more educational. Nintendo intends to release at least 3 Alison novels for the Electric Library.

No realse day has been made .

- DS_Deliver

Rumor: SI for Kids Knows Wii's Launch Date?

(Unlikely source to get this kind of scoop) According to Sport Illustrated for Kid, the Wii's launch date will be November 6th, which was posted on Go Nintendo. Another rumored launch date has hit the net so take all this news with a grain of salt.

Source: Nintendojo

-Falco8