Author: Jeff Morgan (Page 250 of 260)

Why Wii Sports Resort Sales Figures Really Matter

August 10, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

Nintendo is happily sharing sales figures for Wii Sports Resort and the bundled Wii MotionPlus, and for good reason. Since launch, the $50 bundle has sold more than 500,000 units.

From Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo’s executive VP of sales & marketing, the news sounds something like this: “Through Monday we sold one copy of Wii Sports Resort roughly every 1.5 seconds continuously since it launched in the United States.” That’s an impressive stat, especially considering the nature of the game. Nintendo continues to successfully defy the convention of going for the hardcore market. The Wii Sports Resort sales do more than just add to Nintendo’s fat coffers, it puts the Wii MotionPlus in the hands of the public, effectively reducing the cost of all future games designed to employ the Wii MotionPlus’ advanced sensors. You won’t need to drop the extra $20 next timeyou want to play a MotionPlus enabled game.

Now, if we could only sort out what Nintendo is going to do with the Vitality Sensor.

Mobile Gaming, News, Nintendo Wii, Video

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Tales Of Monkey Island Continues August 20th

August 10, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

Telltale has put a date on the successor to their new Tales of Monkey Island game. The next episode in the series, called The Siege of Spinner Cay will be available on August 20th for PC. There’s still no word on the WiiWare release date.

After eight years of waiting we finally have consistent updates to one of my favorite game franchises of all time. I have to say, I’m really liking the episodic release schedule, too. It gives me enough time to finish my current chapter of the game without too much pressure to blow through the whole thing. A few weeks later they release a new episode of the same game, making a smooth transition along the game’s storyline.

Though they didn’t give specific details, Telltale did say the WiiWare release will be close the PC date. No need to fret, Wii-fans. You’ll get yours soon enough.

Nintendo Wii, PC, Previews

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Blur Drops in November

August 6, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

Yesterday Activision announced that their new racing game, Blur, will be hitting stores this November. The title comes from Bizarre Creations, who you might remember from the Project Gotham series.

“In November we’ll release our new racing game Blur from Bizarre Creations. Blur had a strong showing at E3 as well, including the nomination for best racing game.” That’s from Mike Griffith. If you don’t know him you need to do some reading.

I don’t know what it is exactly, but I have so much more confidence in Activision since they acquired Blizzard. It’s hard not to believe in a company with the sheer amount of money Activision has, but that they saw fit to pick up an absolute juggernaut in the PC game industry makes my pants tingle for a reason I’m not sure I can identify.

My sexual proclivities aside, Blur actually looks pretty cool, and according to most retail joints, you can pick it up November 3rd.

News, Previews

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Risk: Halo Wars Gets A Trailer

August 6, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

It’s not often that you see a board game release a trailer, but that’s apparently part of USAopoly’s marketing plan for Risk: Halo Wars. It is often, however, that you’ll find me slavering to play a new Risk game. I’m a huge fan of the original, and while the Lord of the Rings version didn’t thrill me, the Star Wars version is fantastic. From the looks of things, the Halo Wars pack should live up to my expectations, if only because I’d be able to play the Flood.

Set to release later this fall, the Halo Wars version of Risk puts you in control of the Covenant, the Flood, or the UNSC, each fighting for their own survival against the others. The game has 3 play modes, from adventure/story-driven to a reworked classic play. I’ll spare you the details as I’m sure nearly everyone’s played Risk at some point.

What I’m most interested to see is the quick gameplay. The great thing about the Star Wars Risk Clone Wars Edition was that it implemented some time constraints. Don’t get me wrong, I love the 3-day Risk marathons, but it can be hard to get into a game that will soak up so much time. Newer versions of Risk have created mechanics that keep the game short, but still enjoyable enough to keep me coming back.

Watch for Risk: Halo Wars this fall at Amazon, JC Penny, and Hollywood Video of all places.

News, Previews

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Wii Sports Resort Sells Over 500K Copies

August 5, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

Anyone surprised? Anyone at all? Thought not.

This is about the most uninspiring bit of Nintendo news ever, but it’s definitely worth at least noting, and probably congratulating Iwata and company on their great success. In just over a week’s time Wii Sports Resort has sold over 500,000 copies in the US alone.

Those numbers are pretty impressive, whether you expected them or not. As several commenters have pointed out on various sites, this is a game that really goes after the casual player. I’d expect it to spread much like Mario Kart did. I, for one, really hated the Wii’s Mario Kart when I first played it. A few attempts later with a group of friends, though, and I was enjoying myself. It gave us something fun to do in between a late lunch and our evening festivities. I’d expect WSR to have the same, “not a bad way to spend an afternoon” appeal for a lot of people. It just might take some time for more of those folks to buy it.

News, Nintendo Wii

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