Jun 15

Wii U will not play DVDs or Blu-ray, Iwata says

Posted in: blu-ray, nintendo, NintendoWii, Today's Chili, wii


Planning to replace that aging Blu-ray player with a Wii U? Not so fast. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says the gaming console won’t play DVD or Blu-ray discs, due to patent licensing fees.

Wii U does not have DVD or Blu-ray playback capabilities. The reason for that is that we feel that enough people already have devices that are capable of playing DVDs and Blu-ray, such that it didn’t warrant the cost involved to build that functionality into the Wii U console because of the patents related to those technologies.

So there you have it. Iwata doesn’t want to hand over a bag of cash for baby Blu’s “bag of hurt.” By the time the Wii U hits store shelves in 2012, we may be buying Blu-ray players just for their Netflix capabilities, so here’s to hoping the console at least carries over that functionality from its predecessor.

Wii U will not play DVDs or Blu-ray, Iwata says originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Jun 2011 08:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 14

Nintendo Wii U console shown off in its bright, minimalistic entirety

Posted in: AMD, console, e3, gaming, nintendo, Today's Chili, wii

Nintendo hasn’t been too keen on letting us mere mortals stroke the Wii U, as no amount of coins could unlock the console’s cabinet at E3. Surprisingly though, Inside Games managed to get up close and personal to this white box outside its little cave, and then came home alive with a few clear shots. Mind you, there’s hardly anything exciting here: we’re just gazing at some air vents on the side and back, plus a few ports — including HDMI — on the latter. As pointed out by our brethren over at Joystiq, only time will tell whether this curvy Wii U will come with an attachment to imitate its predecessor’s vertical standing. Check out the backside after the break.

Continue reading Nintendo Wii U console shown off in its bright, minimalistic entirety

Nintendo Wii U console shown off in its bright, minimalistic entirety originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Jun 2011 01:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 14

Nintendo’s Iwata talks about Wii U’s place in the living room

Posted in: nintendo, Today's Chili, wii
Nintendo took some inspiration from the TV remote for its Wii controller, and it apparently thinks its new Wii U controller could well be the “TV remote of the future.” That’s just one tidbit from All Things D‘s sitdown with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, who also talked more broadly about the Wii U’s new role in the living room. As evidenced by E3, that will include catering to more hardcore gamers than the Wii did, but Iwata says the Wii U is also an effort to take some of the couch time back from folks playing games on tablets, smartphones or laptops. To that end, Iwata says that Nintendo’s mission is to “shorten the distance between people and gaming” and remove some of the barriers involved with console gaming, further adding that it’s also trying to “reach out to the people who are not interested in video games.” Though it’s not saying much about it, Nintendo’s no doubt hoping to win back a few investors as well. As you may have noticed, the company’s stock slipped significantly following its E3 announcement and, while it’s bounced back a bit since, it’s still well off its Wii-fueled heights of recent years.

Nintendo’s Iwata talks about Wii U’s place in the living room originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 09

Nintendo bringing ‘Red Flare’ 3DS, new Wii package to Japan this summer

Posted in: 3ds, availability, game, Japan, nintendo, nintendo 3ds, Nintendo3ds, price, Today's Chili, wii
Now that we’re all sitting on summer’s doorstep, Nintendo has decided to add a little heat to its 3DS lineup, with a new ‘Red Flare’ handheld, coming to Japan next month. Offering a sanguine alternative to the Aqua Blue and Cosmo Black variants, this little fireball will retail for ¥25,000 (about $312) when it hits Japanese stores on July 14th — just in time for the release of Star Fox 64 3D. The company is also planning to unleash a new Wii bundle on June 23rd, which will package two Wii Remote Plus controllers (one in black or white, one in blue) with Wii Sports Resort software, for ¥20,000 (around $250). No word yet on whether these offers will be coming Westward anytime soon, but you can find more information in the translated press release, after the break.

Continue reading Nintendo bringing ‘Red Flare’ 3DS, new Wii package to Japan this summer

Nintendo bringing ‘Red Flare’ 3DS, new Wii package to Japan this summer originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Jun 2011 04:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 08

TriMount turns your Wii, Kinect, and PlayStation sensors into a video game Eye of Sauron

Posted in: e3, kinect, ps3, Today's Chili, wii, xbox, xbox 360, Xbox360

All right, we get it. You love motion gaming. You fell so hard for your Wii that you had to run out and buy the Kinect and PlayStation Move the minute they hit stores. And now you’ve got a lot of sensors, but not much in the way of space atop your flatscreen. DreamGear understands your decidedly first world pain, and is offering up the TriMount, a shrine to gesture-based gaming that has slots for your Wii sensor bar, Kinect sensor, PlayStation Eye, and a clamp for attaching it to your set. The $30 setup ships August 15th, and is available now for pre-order. Until then, you’re going to have to manage the old fashioned way: making a younger sibling hold up the sensor while you play Dance Central.

TriMount turns your Wii, Kinect, and PlayStation sensors into a video game Eye of Sauron originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 18:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 08

Nintendo Wii U FAQ

Posted in: nintendo, NintendoWii, Today's Chili, top, wii

Nintendo’s next console, the Wii U, has got us excited. It combines the best parts of the Wii with the graphical power of the other consoles and throws in the most insanest, ridiculously awesome controller we’ve ever played for good measure. But I’m sure you guys have questions. Here’s what we know about the Wii U so far. More »

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Jun 08

Trimount Lets All Your Consoles Watch You, All The Time

Posted in: Today's Chili, Toys and Games, wii, xbox

The Trimount will never stop watching you. Never

Look at this thing. It’s like somebody cloned HAL 9000 a dozen different ways and put the mutated results in your living room. It will stare at you through a haze of paranoia until one day you foolishly step outside without a key and find yourself locked out. Forever.

Fortunately for game enthusiasts named “Dave,” the Trimount isn’t (yet) sentient. It solves a very real first-world problem: with thin LCD TVs, where do you put the set-top box? The Trimount actually clamps to the top of your skinny set and provides secure mounting for Xbox 360 Kinect Sensor, PlayStation Eye and Wii Sensor Bar. If you’re happy having all those cameras pointing at you as you cavort around your living room singing karaoke and dancing out of time, then this is probably for you.

Best of all, this surveillance station is pretty cheap. At $30, it probably costs less than the bracket that’s holding your TV up. Available August.

Trimount [DreamGear Via SlashGear]

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Jun 08

Nintendo admits its Wii U highlight reel was spiced up with PS3 and Xbox 360 footage

Posted in: console, e3, gaming, interview, Microsoft, nintendo, ps3, sony, Today's Chili, video, wii, xbox, xbox 360, Xbox360

Nintendo’s E3 2011 keynote yesterday gave the world its first official look at the all-new Wii U hardware plus (we thought) a glimpse at the graphical capabilities of its next console. As it turns out, the impressive list of upcoming games for the 2012-bound console was just that, a list, with the visuals we saw on screen coming from PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of said titles. Nintendo of America chief Reggie Fils-Aime has confirmed that to be the case in an interview with GameTrailers, where he also points out that the eventual Wii U games will look at least as good as their PS3 / 360 counterparts. Which is why, in his eyes, it’s okay to show us those games being played on the competition’s (current-gen) hardware. He does remind us that the Wii U will be delivering graphics at a 1080p resolution, and points to the garden tech demo that also graced E3 as an indicator of what can be done with Nintendo’s next console. That’s all well and good, but maybe tell us in advance next time, Reggie?

Nintendo admits its Wii U highlight reel was spiced up with PS3 and Xbox 360 footage originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 06:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 07

Nintendo Wii U Hands On: An Entirely Different Way to See Things

Posted in: e3, gaming, nintendo, Today's Chili, top, wii

It looks like the product of a fevered fanboy wetdream. A 6.2-inch touchscreen, surrounded by dual analog sticks and oodles of buttons. Like the portable hardcore gamers wish Nintendo made. But it’s the most incredible controller ever. More »

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Jun 07

Nintendo Wii U console eyes-on

Posted in: console, e3, gaming, Today's Chili, wii

Sadly we weren’t able to get our hands-on the new console that’s going to come along with the Wii U controller. Every operational unit is clad in shimmering Lucite and locked away. But, from what we can see peering through the glass it’s more or less a curvaceous Wii. It’s a little bit chubbier, maybe a hint taller, but the design is much the same: glossy white and a big disc slot. Nintendo definitely isn’t giving up on physical distribution for this round. All that we can see beyond that is a power button, a reset button, a red sync button, and a little flip-down door much like on the Wii. What’s behind the door? Memory cards? More buttons? Magic? Feel free to speculate wildly in comments.

Gallery: Nintendo Wii U Console Eyes-On

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

Nintendo Wii U console eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Jun 2011 14:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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