Kombo Writes: "The Wii has not really made a reputation for itself as a "core" gaming console. That's not to say that there aren't such games available; there are in fact some fantastic games for the console. Of course, a number are from Nintendo themselves, while it seems that third-parties have found themselves struggling to pull in the numbers they see on other platforms with traditional games, minus a few exceptions here and there. "

In this week's Ask Joystiq Nintendo, a reader brings up a subject we had managed to stop thinking about for a while: the Japan-exclusive Super Famicom remake of The Legend of Zelda. And now we're going to be bummed out all day thinking about all the stuff we're doing instead of playing that.

Do you have a Nintendo-related question? Email it in to asknintendo AT joystiq DOT com, and we'll (daydream about BS Satellaview Zelda while we) investigate it for you!

Continue reading Ask Joystiq Nintendo: Expressing Interest Edition

Ask Joystiq Nintendo: Expressing Interest Edition originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last week, Sony made a comment that the Wii owns the closet. Now Satoru Iwata has responded to that statement.

GamesAreEvil writes, "The Tiger Woods golf franchise has been popular for many years, but none expected it to reach the levels of success that is has achieved on the Nintendo Wii. Using the Wii's intelligent "waggle" based interface, the game has found a natural home on the platform. It has been so popular, in fact, that over the last two years the Wii version has sold better than its counterparts on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Not only is this an exciting development for the series, but it is a value add for the much larger Nintendo fan base. Adding Disc Golf support to every course must have been a huge undertaking. Check out the video explaining the new mode in depth..."

We can't remember the last time we felt the pangs of gadget lust for something so utilitarian as a mouse. We know we've never wanted our mouse buttons to be more button-like and less flush with the surface of the device. This NES controller mouse is inspiring feelings in us we didn't even know we had -- as well as the quite familiar feeling of "loving NES controllers."

Too bad, then, that this mouse, the first to elicit an emotional response from us in recent memory, isn't real. It's a foam model made as a school project. Thanks a lot, brain. Try to like real things next time.

[Via Engadget]

NES controller mouse: now you're pointing with power originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Advanced sales for Nintendo Co.'s Wii Sports Resort have cooled off at retailer Amazon.com weeks after pre-sale availability at the retailer.

On Wed., Wii Sports Resort held a rank of No. 103 in Amazon's Video Games division. It previously ranked in the top 10 best-sellers at the retailer.

Thatgamingsite writes:

"Red Steel 2 was officially confirmed by Ubisoft today although many of us saw the Nintendo Power scans days ago.

What might come as a happy surprise or possibly a fear to some is that Ubisoft have confirmed that the game is due for release before the year is out. Holiday 2009 according to Ubisoft"

Gamereactor got a presentation of Deep Silver's upcoming Wii horror title Cursed Mountain.

Gonintendo gets first pic of Red Steel 2

The Wii no Ma Channel, Nintendo's own ad-supported video service, starts in Japan tomorrow. Nintendo seems to think pretty highly of its creation -- not only did president Satoru Iwata record a 25-minute speech about the service, but Nintendo reportedly sent translations of Iwata's speech to some English-language sites. This unusual practice has us thinking we could see our own version of the Wii no Ma Channel soon.

Iwata's presentation offered a few details on the new service. According to Eurogamer's summary, Nintendo will begin the service with only a small amount of original content, but that Japanese broadcasters now see the service as "not hostile" and will provide content soon. "It might seem unprecedented to launch a video broadcasting service with such limited programs," said Iwata about the approach (which should be familiar to users of the Virtual Console or WiiWare), "but from other viewpoint, it turns out that good programs can easily stand out. We are going to increase it gradually."

The advertising portion, relegated to an area inside the channel's living room houseplant, presents 12 screens to the viewer, allowing viewers to choose the advertising and offers they see, rather than interrupting programming for ads. This is the part of the service that allows coupons to be sent to the DSi. Other events happening in the room include visits from celebrity Mii "concierges" -- like Einstein, seen above. Viewers can rate and recommend these visits to friends, who can experience them via the Wii Message Board. More screens of the service are available at the Wii no Ma site.

Iwata introduces the Wii no Ma video service originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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