News

"Nintendo said Friday it will replace 3.2 million straps for its popular Wii computer game controllers after receiving a rash of reports that the devices flew out of the hands of overzealous players.

The recall is a bittersweet development for Nintendo — a costly hitch in its three-way battle with Sony Corp.'s (SNE) PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Xbox 360, but also confirmation of the enthusiastic reception worldwide."
Read the rest courtesy of Fox News

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It's an unfortunate happenstance for Nintendo that wrist straps would be wearing out so quickly after the launch of the Wii - one would expect that they would have a better quality assurance team after such a long development period - but Nintendo should at least be happy that people are getting excited enough about their system that they're flailing wildly enough to break a wrist strap. I'm a bit wary about the change simply from 0.024 inches to 0.04 inches, because if 0.024 inches can wear out in a short month, does that mean the new straps will only last two? I'm hoping that they also made some sort of change to the fabric to ensure that it will at least last a good amount of time.

The website Wii Have A Problem is a good resource of Wii-related accidents that have been occurring, and it currently has a side-by-side snapshot displaying how the difference in thickness is. I have never seen the controller in person and was shocked to see just how thin it was and still is - even knowing the measurements, I was still thinking in my head that it would be as thick as the part that you can see in the photo that goes around your entire wrist.

The entire ordeal, as the article mentions, will cost Nintendo "several million dollars" but it ends up being decent PR that Nintendo would actually fix a documented problem and make it right for all Wii customers.

Not ending price debates, but merely modifying them, Nintendo confirmed today that the price for the Wii upon release will not be any higher than $250 US. In addition, Nintendo also predicts that they will ship more than 6 million units worldwide. Wii's price comes as a big relief to gamers looking to buy a next-generation system without emptying their entire savings account to do so - especially with the recent pricing news of Sony's PS3.

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For me, this only solidifies the decision I had already made to buy a Wii over any other system. A release price of at most $250 is a huge advantage for the system over the PS3 and even the XBox360, though a price drop is expected for the latter upon the release of the Wii.

Source: Pocket Lint

The Charismatic, Energetic, Takes-No-Prisoners Executive Vice-President of Sales and Marketing, Reggie Fils-Aime, has become the new President of Nintendo of America. The current president will become the chairman of the board. Reggie will maintain his work as the overseers of the Sales and Marketing department as well as "lead the day-to-day operations of Nintendo of America." Mentioning the name "Reggie" to a hardcore Nintendo fan will generally elicit a big smile - this move will surely draw the fanbase closer to Nintendo as well as draw attention to the company as the Wii's release date draws nearer.

Source: Games Are Fun

Yep, you guessed it. They're making another FF7 spin-off game, this time starring Vincent. It's called Final Fantasy 7: Dirge of Cerberus, and will not be produced for the cell phone market, unlike the FF7 Shinra game. It will be a playable game, unlike Advent Children, but they're not releasing if this is going to be an RPG yet. Not a whole lot of details are known, but you can check out the logo and one piece of propaganda.

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Well, I'm getting sick of all these spinoffs, personally. I don't find myself interested in any of them, and although I liked Vincent, I still don't want to buy this one. I'm concerned with maybe playing through the original FF7 once more, not with getting all the money to play/watch the spinoffs. Discuss!

Courtesy RPGamer...

The title formerly known as Earthbound64 was feared dead as details ceased to emerge and the Nintendo64 died off. However, good news is here for fans of the series. Mother 3, the official title of the game, is approximately 60% complete, says the game's writer, Shigesato Itoi. It is not known if this means the writing or the programming of the game, but as the speculated release is late 2005, it can be assumed that it is the writing.

RPGamer news

As a fan of the series, this makes me extremely happy. I had a Nintendo64, and had the game come out when I owned it, I would've been doing flips. Now that it's back, I might have to buy a Gamecube if that's the platform.

Courtesy our friends at RPGamer:

Square-Enix has announced a prequel to their blockbuster hit, Final Fantasy VII, named Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII. Unlike Advent Children, which is a movie, this is an actual game with battles and action and everything you'd expect from an RPG. What you wouldn't expect is the platform of the game -- Square-Enix has decided that the cell phone market is good enough to release the game there. This raises questions about the ability to bring Before Crisis to the United States, because as anyone who has been to Japan can attest, the cell phone technology in Japan is much more advanced than what is available stateside.

Personally, I think that it's a good idea for Squenix to do the prequel, because it will sell. I think it's a horrible idea to release the game on cellphones. I don't know if their plan is to goad people into buying their cellphone technology or what, but I certainly wouldn't buy a phone just to play a game. This should be a big thing to discuss -- please do it here!