If you're only choice for PlayStation and Wii purchases is the old Best Buy, take a gander at their supposedly "leaked" launch plans. They reveal that the demo station Kiosk rollouts will be October 20 for the PS3 and October 29 for the Wii, and that they will go on sale November 17 and 19, respectively.

They're also noting that the Xbox 360 Kiosk will be pushed onto the shelf display, and will feature the HD DVD add-on prominently. Check the jump for more info. The PS3 kiosk seems pretty awesome (47-inch 1080p, 7.1 home theatre, Lay-Z-Boy sofas). – Jason Chen

Best Buy's Wii and PS3 Plans [Neogaf via Kotaku]

Our "aren't we cool because we don't snort whipped cream" friends at Kotaku posted that Famitsu (video game magazine) polled major Japanese retailers about the market this holiday season. Here are the results:

1. Which next gen console will, in your opinion, sell better during Christmas?
88% - Wii
11% - PS3

2. With all hardware considered, which console do you expect to sell best after Christmas?
60.7% - Nintendo DS
32.8% - Wii
3.3% - PS2
1.6% - PS3
1.6% - Xbox 360

Looks like Sony PS3 sales will be right up there with Scony PS3 sales this holiday season. – Mark Wilson

[Kotaku]

Just how much living-room cabinet space are you going to have to sacrifice when you purchase a PlayStation 3 instead of a Nintendo Wii? Will your 1985 entertainment center fit your Xbox 360 in the same slot as a Nintendo NES? All your questions will be answered if you look at the picture. – Jason Chen

Filed under: Gaming

So if you think that you're going to pop down to your local store and play the Wii on a big kiosk when it comes out on November 19, think again. According to The Dallas Morning News, the only retailer to have authorized playable Wii kiosks will be GameStop, much to Wal-Mart and surely every other big box retailer's chagrin. That said, as our brethren at Joystiq point out, many shops may open up their own Wiis and set up a playable demo unit or three, but official blessed-by-Nintendo kiosks apparently won't be widespread for some time.

[Via Joystiq]

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Although Ashcraft is in Japan, we could hear his tears drop loudly on his stained MacBook Pro all the way here across the Pacific here in California when he read Miyamoto say that the Wii is "basically a GC".

We've upgraded our development tools to new versions but, you can still use GC programs as they are. With that in mind, I thought we could remake GC titles for the Wii and modify them to work with the Wii remote so that they're more fun to play.

Since the hardware is pretty much the same, they're charging you again for the same device, just Wii-ified with the awesome controller. As much as we hate paying for the "same thing" more than once, we're still going to, since it's the Gamecube++. And because we never bought a Gamecube in the first place. – Jason Chen

Miyamoto The Interview Part 2 [Game Brink via Kotaku]

It was bound to happen. Sure things were hot and heavy when we barely saw one another, but then she moved in and, well...I know we are just watching TV at home but are grey sweats and a complete lack of makeup necessary for such an endeavor? Can television no longer be watched in heels and miniskirts?

Here's a very unflattering picture of the Wii's sensor bar. Hit the link for more sad "morning after" shots over at Kotaku. – Mark Wilson

Unsexy Wii Accessory Photos Surface [Kotaku]

Filed under: Gaming

It's hard to think of that cute little Wii box harboring vampiric tendencies, but beyond its Nintendo-confirmed aversion to halogen lights, the Wii sensor bar apparently can't handle your garden variety sunlight either. This little "quirk" was discovered by OMBRENOIR17, an official Warpstar Knight over at the Nintendo NSider Forums, who experienced an hour of downtime at a recent Wii demonstration at Nintendo World when the Sun hit the showroom and shrouded the display units in light. According to trusty ol' Wikipedia, "sunlight" is apparently quite commonly encountered by the Earth's surface dwellers, and might even pose a problem to the console's casual target market, but we don't foresee it posing much of a threat to Engadget HQ bunkers. Threat averted.

[Via digg]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

So the Nintendo Wii has that fancy pants wireless Wiimote thing. And because it allows full gyration controls the Wii needs a fancier sensor. Enter the sensor bar that we first saw a couple days ago. It seems if sunlight is shining directly into the sensor barit will not function properly or at all.

Ironically this flaw was discovered in a Wii demo room at Nintendo World. The Wii demo stations were set up by a window and at one point light was shining directly in and therefore disabling the sensor. Better start rearranging those rooms, kids. Or boarding up the windows (if they aren't already). – Travis Hudson

My impression of the Wii and some games [Nintendo Forums]

Filed under: Gaming

Welcome back to CE-Oh no he didn't, the game show where company executives get to mouth off about something that surely won't make their bosses happy. This week, we're playing with Michael Ephraim, managing director of Sony Computer Entertainment Australia, who made a very insightful comment recently about the pricing of a rival product. Now, while prospective buyers have grumbled at the high price (AU$1000, or $743) of the PS3, Ken Kutaragi, the head of Sony Computer Entertainment, has maintained that the company's latest console is "probably too cheap," but acknowledges that it's a "expensive toy" -- although to be fair, Sony did just drop the price in Japan. Well, it appears that Kutaragi's minions don't necessarily agree with his assessment, or at least Ephraim appears not to. He recently told The Age (Melbourne's major metropolitan daily) his opinion of the Nintendo Wii, which will retail for AU$400 ($297):

"My only question for this Christmas on Wii is the price point. Even though it's affordable, at $400 plus whatever you need to buy accessories-wise, I'm guessing you need to spend about $500 to take home a Wii and enjoy it. For this Christmas, I think that price point is still not family entertainment because $500 is a lot to fork out . . . I think the price for what it specifically does as a video games machine is a bit pricey, but I think that their strategy long term we have great respect for."

So by that logic, mate, the AU$1000 PS3 will be what, exactly -- really frickin' expensive? Not to mention it'll be even more than AU$1000 when it comes with all its accessories too, y'know? So that makes your PS3 even more than twice as much as the Wii, which you say is "a bit pricey?" Mike, wouldn't you think that would mean that you'd want to, um, perhaps bring the price a bit down? Can't you call up your buddy Kenji and tell him what you told those Aussie reporters? Or maybe perhaps your colleague across the Pacific, the Kazmeister? C'mon, you guys could set up a meeting in somewhere convenient for all of you (say, Honolulu?) and work out the details. Then everyone would be happy, especially us lowly consumers.

[Via Joystiq]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: Gaming

We're not really expecting PlayStation 3 or even Xbox 360-level scarcity for Nintendo's Wii come this holiday season, but just in case you want to be certain-sure of a Wii on launch day, and won't be around NYC to grab the console from the very hands of Reggie Fils-Aime at the Nintendo World store, GameStop and EB Games look like they'll be offering up pre-orders for the system this Friday. Apparently The Wiire just got confirmation on the October 13 date straight from GameStop, but our pals over at Joystiq haven't quite had that luck, only confirming that pre-orders will begin sometime this week. It'll cost you somewhere between $25 and $50 to get your name on the list, quite a bit less than the $100 you'll have to fork over for a PS3 -- which is to be expected.

[Via Joystiq]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Contrary to earlier jumps to conclusions, the Wii Sensor bar doesn't really have a problem with the sunlight directly shining onto it. Sure, one of their earlier engineering feats was getting it to work in sunlight, not to mention UV light, IR, and florescent lights. But Nintendo now says:

Our testing thus far shows no great risk of light interference when playing a game that relies on the pointer and sensor bar.

No problem here. Good job Japanese engineers! May you go out and get some sun once the Wii launch is complete. – Jason Chen

Nintendo Responds [1up via Kotaku]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Gaming, Peripherals

You guys all know by now how obsessed with the minutiae we are -- peep the first pics we've yet seen of the Wii accessories line. Clockwise from upper left, we have pictured the Wii power adapter (RVL-A-AD - ¥3,000), Wii Ethernet adapter (RVL-A-UE - ¥2,800), Wii 512MB SD card (RVL-A-SD1 - ¥3,800), yet-unidentified video-out cables (RVL-A-KD - ¥2,500), component video cables (RVL-A-KC - ¥2,500), S-Video cables (RVL-A-KS - ¥2,500), and classic composite video cables (RVL-A-KT - ¥1,000). Ok, carry on everybody.

[Thanks, MED]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: Gaming

Okay, considering there's already some crazy things happening on eBay, and knowing full well that PlayStation 3 consoles will undoubtedly be a hot commodity in a few short long weeks, you might just need to reevaluate those plans of waltzing into your favorite game shop on November 19th and leaving happy. Nintendo's Wii isn't that likely (right?) to be sold out everywhere come launch week, but for those who don't enjoy pressing their luck (or camping out in the cold), American GameStop's are indeed accepting pre-orders starting tomorrow, while Canadian venues start October 16th. We had good suspicion that things would pan out this way, and our pals at Joystiq are now reporting that GameStop newsletter subscribers have just received official word that $50 will quasi-guarantee you a shiny white box come launch day -- but only one unit per "household" can supposedly be claimed, and the company even warns that allocations are likely to vanish "within minutes." We weren't counting on this year's "budget console" playing hard to get, but if all these sudden reports of imminent scarcity are eventually proven accurate, maybe getting your name on that list wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.

[Via Joystiq, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Contrary to our update that said the Wii does not have a sunlight problem, a company rep just said that the sensor bar in fact does have interference issues.

Nintendo told Kikizo today that this is a known issue with the Wii. A company representative explained that the Wii sensor bar is affected by head-on exposure to sunlight, which could cause "some interference". But he likened it to not being able to see a TV with the sun shining straight on it.

So yes, you're going to have problems in direct head-on (apply directly to your Wii) exposure to sunlight, but that will probably be rare unless you can't find a way to close your blinds at certain times of day. – Jason Chen

Nintendo Clears Up Wii Heliophobia [Kikizo via Kotaku]

Image courtesy Stuff (NSFW)

We doubt it's necessary to pre-order a Wii now that there's going to be two million Wii units available on launch day, but if you live in Sweaty Crack, North Dakota, where there's only going to be five units, we suppose it's good to reserve one.

GameStop and EB Games stores will begin accepting limited pre-orders for the Nintendo Wii console on Friday, October 13, on a first come, first served basis. Due to extremely limited supplu, we expect to reach our limit very quickly, most likely in minutes. We will not accept additional pre-orders at that time. To avoid an unnecessary trip we strongly recommend you call your local store to determine availability. A $50 reservation deposit is required, which can be funded with cash, credit or trade. As we cannot control production and shipping issues by the manufacturer, a reservation deposit does not guarantee receipt of a system available to purchase at launch. Reservations/Purchases are limited to 1 per household.

We're planning on just waltzing in and grabbing one on launch day. – Jason Chen

Breaking: GameStop (Finally) Announces Wii Pre-Orders [Kotaku - Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

In a gallery of old Nintendo toys (translation: sucky, useless and not videogames), we came across this image of a remote controlled car from 1972 and what appears to be a very, very early prototype of the Wiimote. Does this mean Nintendo will release Wiis in powder blue? We hope so.

Hit the jump for a bunch of nostalgic Nintendo pictures we've stolen from the link below, including a "love tester" with testicles, sort of. – Mark Wilson

Nintendo Toys pre-1980 [via boingboing]

Here is video that's been floating around a bit, showing just how simple it is to program wiimote movements through the dev tool LiveMove. We'll admit it - this is a boring video about a cool topic, but we cracked up about halfway when he says, "Imagine me as a cowboy...I'm lassoing a steer..." And he's totally in the moment. – Mark Wilson

[via crunchgear]

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment

The Wii controller's resemblance to a TV remote sure hasn't been lost on us -- hence the affectionate "Wiimote" moniker that most people have assigned to the unique little controller -- but it doesn't look like it's been lost on Nintendo either. They've just shipped Wiimotes of the channel changing variety to Platinum members of Nintendo Japan's Club Nintendo rewards program. Platinum members also received a wall calendar with artwork from main Nintendo franchises, but somehow we're guessing they'll be a bit more excited by this TV remote that fully apes the form of one of the most discussed game peripherals of all time. The excitable kids professional reviewers over at IGN are sure pumped. They've posted up an unboxing of their unit, along with the inevitable comparison shots with other gaming peripherals, TV remotes and slices of bread, etc. Of course, even with those snazzy Japanese labels for each button, we can't imagine this thing would be too incredibly useful as a TV/home theater remote, but it should do fine for fanboys in search of a little wrist conditioning to get in shape for the Wii launch. Keep reading for a couple more pics, or head on over to IGN for the full deal.

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

The chances of this being a final production Wii are pretty slim, but this video shows that even the forthcoming console is susceptible to the ol' system freeze. Hopefully they'll get that fixed cause the alarm-like noise in the background is definitely annoying. – Louis Ramirez

Yes even the Wii freezes [via Gadgetell]

Filed under: Gaming

We suppose any Wii is better than no Wii, but having to battle it out in a round of Excite Truck with a proudly-pinned employee watching over each shoulder just seems a bit idiosyncratic. While we already know that Wal-Mart isn't planning on hiring any more smiling faces to oversee the presumably fractious gaming crowd, you just might find a few "helpful staff members" at your side while flinging the Wiimote in your local GameStop. Nintendo's George Harrison has insinuated that all Wii demo stations will feature untethered controllers, but store personnel will be eying the players to ensure the nunchuck isn't used as a weapon (and that it doesn't leave in unauthorized pockets). He also noted that the big N has spent "considerable amounts of time" in designed the forthcoming kiosks, and mentioned (vaguely) that they "could be found at retail outlets, malls, the Nintendo Fusion Tour, and other consumer events." While we still aren't exactly sure where you'll wind up finding that ever-elusive Wii demo station, be sure to mind your manners when you finally do.

[Via The Wiire]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

On November 19, exactly one month from today, you'll be able to purchase your own Nintendo Wii. That means you have exactly one month left to get the only Nintendo Wii controller with a screen—the Nintendo DS.

The DS Lite Onyx has been out for a while, but we thought this was a good time to remind you that it does exist and it does work as a controller for the Wii in games like Madden. Why do we love the Onyx version?

1. It matches our Black Pearl.
2. It's newer than the White (Crystal) DS Lite.
3. It matches our future BlackBook.
4. Darth Vader was cooler than Luke.
5. Affirmative Action.

– Jason Chen

Product Page [Amazon]

Chen, Chen, Chen. I think you're right to love the DS Lite. I play it more than my Xbox. But you're just wrong about loving the black one more than the white one. White is the superior color, because:

1. It will actually match the white Wii case.
2. Won't show fingerprints.
3. Won't get hot in the Sun.
4. Kawaii.
5. Black is the new pink. And pink sucks.
–Brian Lam

PS, My hinge broke today.

DS Lite Onyx Gallery - 31 Days Left To Buy Your Wii Controller [Giz]
DS Lite [Nintendo]

Filed under: Gaming

Hoo boy, now it's really on. Sure, motion sensing controllers have existed in some sense or another for a while now, but ever since Nintendo got into the game with their Wiimote, and Sony followed suit with the SIXAXIS, a good bit of interesting tech is starting to surface. Case in point, the new motion-sensing tech from In2Games, codenamed "Fusion," takes things to a whole new level, providing for accurate on-screen representation of your motions, not just an approximate like on the Wii or the PS3. The tech apparently works with "sound waves and other technical wizardry," though those dots on the various controller remind us a bit of a motion capture setup. The benefit of all this is that your motions are tracked just as they happen in real space, and you don't need to have the controller pointed at the sensor for it to work. Of course, as demonstrated by video demonstration of the unit, this also means you'll need a good bit of room to swing your arms, and might make things like same console multiplayer quite difficult. There's also the fact that software support will be relatively minimal, but In2Games is making things as easy as possible, since the sensor connects via USB, and therefore should be interoperable with the next-gen consoles. They should be launching Fusion Q3 '07 for "sub-£30" (around $56 US), so that shouldn't be too hard to swallow either. Along with tennis, baseball, lightsaber, golf and bowling controllers pictured above, the Fusion controller also comes in a version shaped like a traditional next-gen controller, but which can be split apart for performing motion-sensed moves. It's pictured after the break.

[Via Joystiq]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

In2Games has just announced a series of gaming peripherals even more amazing than the Wiimote - called the Fusion. The Fusion units work much like the Wiimote, sensing motion and depth. But because the Fusion uses sound waves (sonar?) for tracking movement, there are no issues with the remote losing line of site with the console. During playtests, the Fusion proved to be more than In2Games hype.

The Fusion will connect via USB and will run $56 bucks a pop...so those specialty remotes will start to add up fast unless you want to play golf with your tennis gear. Unfortunately, the Fusion is late on the scene and will doubtfully be utilized to its fullest potential - this gen at least. – Mark Wilson

Wii-beating motion-sensing tech revealed [scifi tech]

RawmeatCowboy (yum) got some of the first shots of the illuminating Wii gift card that will be available at Target. It's all part of an elaborate scheme to get you to buy more shit at Target. The card is obviously too thick to easily fit in a wallet, so Target expects you to forget the gift card at home and be forced to buy their goods without the gift card. Geniuses! Actually this card looks pretty snazzy—even if it is thick as hell. – Travis Hudson

Target Wii gift cards [Go Nintendo]

Yesterday we told you about Target's new illuminating Wii gift cards. Since then my super secret Target employee has given me some new info about this card and how it will work.

The Target mole also says that a PS3 gift card that has "similar shape and some feature to it" will be on the way. Both of these cards will be available for specials with their respected consoles. Supposedly, if you buy three games you get a $20 gift card that comes on a super-crazy illuminating gift card (!!).

In the case of the PS3—spend almost $800 at Target and get a $20 gift card. Sounds like one hell of a Dealzmodo to me! Images via Go Nintendo– Travis Hudson

It may have taken Nintendo fanboy Mathysvande all of 80 hours to create this Nintendo Wii ad, but it was totally worth it. We'd love to see Nintendo contact him and use this for an actual ad. Sure beats the pants off that PS3 spot we saw. – Jason Chen

Incredible Hand-Drawn Wii Commercial [TechEBlog]

It's just a rumor for now, but it seems like EBGames/GameStop wants to stop a repeat of last year's Xbox 360 eBay fiasco by cutting off employees who auction off their consoles.

This scheme is going to be hard to police, but retailers will probably scan employees' console serial numbers and compare it to serials listed on eBay—which if employees are smart, won't be. Unless EB/GameStop HQ buys up auctions and THEN compares the consoles to the listed serial numbers, it's unlikely that anybody will actually get caught.

Most likely just a scare tactic, but one less console sold on eBay means one more console in the hands of someone who actually wants to play. – Jason Chen

Rumor: EB/Gamestop workers fired if PS3/Wii listed on eBay [Joystiq]

The Wii Kiosks are going up all over Japan, allowing Nintendo faithfuls, a.k.a. the entire population between 2 and 80, to have a go at the Wii before launch. And by "have a go", we mean look but don't touch.

The big screen shows the instructional video over and over, similar to the infinitely repeating instructional video at the Star Trek: The Ride Ride we rode on in Las Vegas—much to the despair of said ride workers.

More pics after the jump.

– Jason Chen

Here It Is... Japan's Wii Kiosk [Kotaku]