Nintendo's Japanese conference has wrapped up, and it's like E3 in October. As Matt reported earlier, much of the conference centered around the new DSi system. However, for Wii owners, there is a lot to be excited about.
Word has it that Nintendo will finally put the SD card reader on the Wii to good use. Virtual Console and WiiWare titles will be able to download directly to a memory card, said Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. It will also be much quicker and easier to move games and saves from the SD card to the Wii system memory. Hardcore gamers and the enthusiast press (people like us) have consistently lamented the Wii's small supply of on-board memory. The launch of WiiWare and larger downloads brought the issue into focus earlier this year.
Unfortunately, these storage enhancements won't go online until Spring 2009. We could not verify whether players can play games directly from an SD card, or if only new Virtual Console and WiiWare titles will download directly to SD; we assume Nintendo will retrofit its shop to work with whole library appropriately.
Iwata also unveiled brand new installments in the Punch-Out! and Sin & Punishment (which we have screens of) series. Punch-Out! uses cel-shading to look very similar to its classic predecessors. It's unknown if it will play similarly to Wii Sports: Boxing, and use the Nunchuck and Wii Remote. Similarly little is known about Sin & Punishment; hopefully it will make it to U.S. shores. A new Tales of title from Namco was also announced amid a flurry of titles featured in video montages, including a sequel to Endless Ocean, a new Klonoa, and a Wii iteration in the Another Code franchise. You can check the videos out, including a montage of various upcoming DS titles such as a new Mario & Luigi RPG, here.
Finally, fitting with Nintendo's inherent love to make more money off of old games, Iwata announced a new series of games for Wii called "Let's Play On Wii." As far as we can tell, this is merely a branding for re-releases of old GameCube games like Pikmin and Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, reminding gamers that GameCube titles can be played on the Wii. Some outlets have reported that these will feature some variety of Wii controls, implying actual changes to the software, but we cannot verify that news at this time.
Update: Scratch that, Famitsu screens have popped up showing both Pikmin and Jungle Beat in widescreen and using Wii controls. Videos of the two can be found here. Jungle Beat actually shows some gameplay changes, including the addition of a heart-based health system and occasional large coins in some of the levels.
Word has it that Nintendo will finally put the SD card reader on the Wii to good use. Virtual Console and WiiWare titles will be able to download directly to a memory card, said Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. It will also be much quicker and easier to move games and saves from the SD card to the Wii system memory. Hardcore gamers and the enthusiast press (people like us) have consistently lamented the Wii's small supply of on-board memory. The launch of WiiWare and larger downloads brought the issue into focus earlier this year.
Unfortunately, these storage enhancements won't go online until Spring 2009. We could not verify whether players can play games directly from an SD card, or if only new Virtual Console and WiiWare titles will download directly to SD; we assume Nintendo will retrofit its shop to work with whole library appropriately.
Click for all Punch-Out Wii screens
Iwata also unveiled brand new installments in the Punch-Out! and Sin & Punishment (which we have screens of) series. Punch-Out! uses cel-shading to look very similar to its classic predecessors. It's unknown if it will play similarly to Wii Sports: Boxing, and use the Nunchuck and Wii Remote. Similarly little is known about Sin & Punishment; hopefully it will make it to U.S. shores. A new Tales of title from Namco was also announced amid a flurry of titles featured in video montages, including a sequel to Endless Ocean, a new Klonoa, and a Wii iteration in the Another Code franchise. You can check the videos out, including a montage of various upcoming DS titles such as a new Mario & Luigi RPG, here.
Finally, fitting with Nintendo's inherent love to make more money off of old games, Iwata announced a new series of games for Wii called "Let's Play On Wii." As far as we can tell, this is merely a branding for re-releases of old GameCube games like Pikmin and Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, reminding gamers that GameCube titles can be played on the Wii. Some outlets have reported that these will feature some variety of Wii controls, implying actual changes to the software, but we cannot verify that news at this time.
Update: Scratch that, Famitsu screens have popped up showing both Pikmin and Jungle Beat in widescreen and using Wii controls. Videos of the two can be found here. Jungle Beat actually shows some gameplay changes, including the addition of a heart-based health system and occasional large coins in some of the levels.