Nintendo and Sony roll out big titles

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Two new video games from Sony and Nintendo have players exploring jungle islands for lost treasure or skipping across the galaxy to save a kidnapped princess.

On the face of it, Sony’s Uncharted and Nintendo’s Super Mario Galaxy can’t be more different.

Uncharted harnesses the PlayStation 3’s graphical muscle to produce a movie-like adventure, while Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii uses cartoonish graphics and simple controls to breathe new life into an aging franchise.

The games also answer challenges facing Sony and Nintendo.

Although Nintendo has been selling as may machines as it can make, players have started to grumble about the lack of must-have titles that offer a more rewarding experience than short minigames.

That’s where Super Mario Galaxy comes in.

A product of Nintendo’s legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Super Mario Galaxy is being hailed as the most innovative and fun Mario adventure in more than a decade.

The portly Italian plumber once again has to save Princess Peach from the clutches of the evil Bowser, and this time his path hops across an amazing variety of planetoids.

Add in dizzying perspectives, weird gravity effects, and finely-honed motion controls, and you end up with a game that has scored 97 out of 100 on Metacritic.com and is expected to sell 16 million copies worldwide, according to online prediction market simExchange.com.

“It definitely captures the essence of what makes Mario so great,” said Jeremy Parish, features editor at gaming news Web site 1up.com, which scored the game a 9.5 out of 10.

“Some hardcore gamers might be turned off by how cutesy this is, but if you look beyond that, the gameplay is rock solid, it’s incredibly new and inventive,” Parish said.

For Sony, Uncharted is the kind of showcase game it sorely needs to drive sales of the PS3, which has languished behind the Wii and Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune puts players on the trail of a hidden treasure of Sir Francis Drake, the 16th century English privateer. It is set in the modern day but crafted in the style of classic adventure movies–think Indiana Jones meets Tomb Raider meets Lost.

Its lush jungle settings and mix of brawling, shooting and exploration set it apart from other popular games this year that feature heavy military or alien-invasion themes.

“There are lots of sci-fi games that are very dark and brown and grey and sort of post-apocalyptic. We wanted to do something more lush and green and vibrant,” said Evan Wells, co-president of Naughty Dog, the Sony studio known for cartoony games like Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter.

“The goal was to create this pulp action adventure and make it very cinematic and make it feel like playing the lead role of a hero in a summer blockbuster,” Wells said.

Uncharted has an average rating of 89 on Metacritic.com, the highest of any exclusive game for the system along with Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, which came out last month.

“It is another solid addition to the library and I’m sure that for some folks that is something that would push them to buy a console this holiday,” said Billy Pidgeon, games analyst for market research firm IDC.

Super Mario Galaxy was released in the United States on November 12 while Uncharted comes out November 19.

Nintendo to sell Wii in China

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Nintendo said it aims to launch its Wii game console in China and South Korea next year, helping accelerate its breakneck growth, and cement its recent lead over Sony and Microsoft. One day after the three game makers’ earnings announcements, Japan-based analysts said Nintendo looks well-positioned to win the race for top spot in the current-generation video game console market due to a strong software lineup and low hardware prices. “New game hardware comes around once in every five, six years. So making a good start is crucial,” Daiwa Institute of Research analyst Koki Shiraishi said. “Since the Xbox 360 was launched one year ahead, it is roughly on par with the Wii in total sales. But if you take a look at current momentum in net growth, the Wii is well ahead.” In the July-to-September quarter, Nintendo sold 3.9 million units of the Wii, which features a motion-sensing controller that enables users to direct onscreen play by swinging it like a racket. That’s three times as many Wiis sold as Sony PlayStation 3s and twice as many as Microsofts Xbox 360s during the same period. “We suffer a global shortage of the Wii. Our responsibility now is to deliver as many consoles as we can to existing markets,” Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said during a news conference. “But next year, I think we can bring the Wii (to China).” Iwata also said on Friday that he has no plan to cut the Wii price in response to recent console price cuts by Sony and Microsoft. “We are in a situation where we need to focus our effort on satisfying demand. I am not at all thinking about price cuts.” Sony recently announced PS3 price cuts and the launch of a low-price model to ignite demand and win back game maker support in the run-up to the critical holiday season. However, the lowest-price PS3, which goes on sale on November 11 in Japan for 39,980 yen ($350), will still cost 60 percent more for buyers than the Wii. Sony loaded the PS3 with cutting-edge technology such as a Blu-ray high-definition DVD recorder. But advanced components have driven up the price for buyers and made it difficult and time-consuming for game creators to develop PS3 software. In a major coup, Nintendo said earlier this month that software publisher Capcom would develop the latest version of its blockbuster Monster Hunter action game for the Wii. The game had previously been developed for Sony’s consoles, and the switch to Nintendo has fed speculation that support for the PlayStation franchise may be slipping. As key software for this holiday season, Nintendo plans to launch its Wii Fit home fitness game on December 1 in Japan featuring a pressure-sensitive mat that allows players to “head” virtual soccer balls and imitate ski jumping. “Wii Fit is probably going to appeal to light gamers, and it will be helping Nintendo to win more users,” Mizuho Investors Securities analyst Etsuko Tamura said.

Nintendo’s strategy to offer innovative but easy-to-play games to expand the gamer population has been a smashing success. Nintendo shares have risen more than fivefold in the past two years to make the game maker Japan’s third most valuable company. Asked what Nintendo plans to do with its growing cash pile, Iwata said the company may carry out a new capital policy in the near future, but it did not elaborate. “Nintendo has ample cash, for sure, and you may say we have strong cash-generating power,” Iwata said. “There is a chance that we will need to do something we haven’t done or we haven’t said in the not-so-distant future, in terms of capital policy, if cash keeps accumulating. But it is too early to say what it would be.” Nintendo’s cash and deposits totaled 912.7 billion yen (about $8 billion) as of September 30.

Wii sales increase in Japan; ranks three in top 10

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Sales for Nintendo Co.’s Wii increased on strong software demand in the latest sales figures from Japan.

Media Create Co. on Tues. reported that the Wii sold 65,120 units between Aug. 6 and Aug. 12, an increase from a total of 61,498 units the week prior.

Wii ranked three software titles in the top 10 game sales, including Mario Party 8, Wii Sports, and Wii Play. It ranked six titles total in the top 50 game sales for the week.

Nintendo in July recorded record profits on strong Wii sales, increasing its business year shipment forecast to 16.5 million from 14 million.

However, a recent report claims that Nintendo will delay an increase in Wii hardware production due to lack of supply components. Wii has sold more than three million units in Japan to date.

Nintendo Wii outsells PS3 6 to 1 in Japan in June

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Nintendo sold 270,974 units of the Wii in the four weeks ended June 24, compared with 41,628 units for the PS3 and 17,616 units for Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360, according to data from Enterbrain.

The Wii’s lead against the PS3 was 4 to 1 in April and 5 to 1 in May.

The Wii’s strong performance, coupled with continued brisk demand for Nintendo’s portable game gear, the DS, helped the Kyoto-based company shoot past Sony in market capitalization last week and become one of Japan’s 10 most valuable companies.

Shares in Nintendo were up 0.2 percent at 45,200 yen by late morning on Monday, while Sony, a company with sales eight times as big as Nintendo’s, fell 0.3 percent to 6,310 yen.

The Nikkei average was down 0.19 percent.

The Wii has won more customers than its two rivals since its Japanese launch late last year by offering innovative ways of playing console games.

The device features a motion-sensitive controller that allows users to direct on-screen play by swinging it like a baseball bat or wielding it like a sword, opening a new avenue of game playing.

Sony, which has dominated the $30 billion global game industry over the past decade with its PlayStation and PlayStation 2, saw a slow start for the PS3 due mainly to its high prices and lack of attractive software titles.

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Wii is a success, Nintendo still can’t meet demand

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The Nintendo Wii is certainly the best selling console of this generation. Almost seven months after it launched, demand is still so great that Nintendo cannot meet the demand for the console because it is so popular. One of the Wii’s attractions is the unique motion sensing controller.

Nintendo’s New York store is mobbed almost each and every day with people hoping to get their hands on the console. Some people were getting in line at 6 a.m. or earlier and getting permission to miss work to get their hands on the Wii.

If you’re hoping to pick up a Wii, you had better be prepared to call around to all the stores in your area and if one has them or is expecting a shipment, be there as soon as you can or arrive before the shipment gets there and get in the queue.

Nintendo Wiis are sold on a first come, first serve basis, it’s really a shame they don’t offer some kind of waiting list, hold list or some kind of preemptive ordering program.

None of the other competing consoles have seen this kind of demand, walk into any electronics retailer and you will be able to pick up an Xbox 360 or PS3 without any wait. Xbox 360 and PS3 sales continue to lag behind the Wii.

Nintendo has admitted that there is still a Wii shortage but is moving to increase production as soon as possible. Their contract manufacturers have been unable to ramp production up the way Nintendo would like.

An analyst from Lazard Capital Markets, Colin Sebastian, said, “Unfortunately you can’t ask a contract manufacturer to make a million a month, then 5 million.”

The Wii has sold almost 3 million units since November, demand is still unusually high and there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight.

Chris Bryne, an independent analyst said “The PlayStation 1 was certainly a big introduction, but I don’t recall any game system more than six months after its launch still having this kind of demand.”

The Bradenton Herald caught up with some Wii customers waiting in line at the New York Nintendo Store, many were hoping the store didn’t run out before they were able to purchase their way. One person wound up spending $350 on the Wii and various accessories.

The Wii is a success and it does not appear it will be going away or that demand will be met any time soon. Perhaps Sony and Microsoft should take a lesson from Nintendo.

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Wii more friendlier than PS3?

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Both the Wii and PS3 have web browsers, but which one is more friendly when it comes to Web 2.0? And why doesn’t Microsoft release Internet Explorer for use on the 360 already?

We may never know the answer to the 360 question, but the website Games Digest took on the Nintendo Wii vs. PS3 question in the battle of 2.0 supremacy. They recently took a test run of fifteen of the top websites like MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and Last.fm to see how they fared on each console.

Using a scoring system of “0 points means it didn’t work properly. 1 point means it worked partially, and 2 points means it worked well,” it appears Wii was the victor over PlayStation 3 with a margin of 26 - 20.

The conclusion by Games Digest:

Victory goes to Opera’s Wii browser, hurt by the fact that two sites (Bloglines and Google Maps) didn’t work at all on the PlayStation 3 browser. However, it’s worth stressing that PlayStation 3’s ability to upload photos and (possibly) video gives it an advantage if you’re big on this user-generated content lark. Also, these findings could easily change as various sites get a redesign, either for the better (they’re configured to autodetect a console and adapt accordingly) or for the worse (they use new plug-ins that aren’t supported by the consoles).

Nintendo denies Wii hard drive, promises DS headset for States

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Not that bad of a trade, if you ask us. Nintendo has come forward and discounted the sketchy rumor de jour of an external Wii-bound hard drive being slated for production, with a Nintendo Europe spokesperson calling the reports “pure rumour and speculation” — like that’s a bad thing. The flip side is that Nintendo took this happy occasion to confirm that the “Poképhone” DS-based VoIP action is going to hit the States next month alongside that DS headset accessory we’ve been seeing around forever. Of course, this isn’t a huge surprise, but it’s always nice to have some confirmation, even if it means getting a hopeful rumor shot down in the process.