The Tendo Project – Daily Nintendo News

It's a little unnerving to be sitting in a room with four Nintendo representatives looking at you, along with one of the most mysterious upcoming pieces of hardware in the business. There were multiple Wii U consoles in the room, each one complete with the innovative controller that looks like the love child of a standard gaming peripheral and an iPad. I was told that Nintendo wouldn't be showing me anything new at CES; all the game demos I would be playing were already shown at E3.

I could ask questions, of course, but I quickly realized doing so would be a waste of time.

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Here is the best thing about Mario Kart 7: This time, Nintendo didn't screw it up.

When you think of Nintendo's hit products, you don't necessarily think of the Mario Kart racing games (specifically) as a dominant part of the 3DS maker's business. But the series is colossal. Mario Kart Wii has outsold every other standalone game on the home system, moving a staggering 28 million copies. That's one game for every three Wii consoles.

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The accepted wisdom states that the 3DS is doomed to fail, a victim of both Nintendo's hubris and the increasing importance of gaming on smartphones. The problem with accepted wisdom is that it's so often wrong. Despite soft sales on the Nintendo Wii and a slow start with the 3DS, this could be still be a successful holiday season for the gaming giant.

This Christmas is, to put it bluntly, make or break time for the 3DS, and Nintendo is coming out swinging.

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Nintendo's investors are urging the company to bring its iconic game characters, like Mario, Luigi, Zelda, and Donkey Kong, to Apple's iPhone and iPad. The call to make games for Apple's hit mobile devices, which have fueled success for companies like PopCap and Rovio, comes after lackluster sales of Nintendo's latest 3DS handheld have driven prices of the company's stock to a 6-year low.

But despite the allure of selling millions of copies of a touchscreen-enabled Super Mario title to some 200 million iOS users, who on average play 14.7 hours of games per month, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata will have none of it.

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This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Metroid series of games, and Nintendo is celebrating in muted style. Nintendo of America's official Twitter account reminded us to log into the 3DS e-shop to download the free version of Metroid Fusion we were promised as ambassadors, but that was it. Fans took to the cause with gusto, however, and a wave of fan-made art and musical projects have spread across the Internet.

Nintendo's lack of enthusiasm for one of its core franchises isn't surprising; Metroid has always been an odd duck among the company's games. Besides, Nintendo is busy worrying over the success, or lack thereof, for the 3DS and paving the way for the upcoming Wii U. 

No new Metroid games have been announced, but the upside is that Metroid remains one of the few series that Nintendo has not beaten into the ground. That's just fine: the game's hero, Samus Aran, has always been a loner.

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Nintendo's keynote today was a bit confusing: were we were looking at an entirely new console or just a peripheral for the existing Wii? Directly after the event, we were allowed to play with the new controller and a variety of games. We weren't allowed to get very close, but we were given permission to snap a picture of the Wii U console itself. Take a look, but I warn you: there's not much to see.

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Update: It's official. As expected, at this morning's E3 keynote, Microsoft revealed both Halo 4 and an enhanced remake of the original Halo: Combat Evolved. Halo 4 will be the start of an all-new trilogy and will launch on the 360 at the end of next year. And unlike some of the more recent entries in the franchise, it stars none other than Master Chief.

Meanwhile, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary will be launching on November 15, and will feature enhanced visuals, online co-op, and seven classic multiplayer maps.

Original story: Just hours before the keynote at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, Microsoft pushed an update to its E3 website stating that Halo 4 is "on the way." The post was quickly taken down, but it confirms the existence of the fifth installment (or seventh, if you count Halo Wars and Halo 3: ODST) in the Halo franchise, as well as other expected games, including Dance Central 2, Kinect Star Wars, and Kinect Sports 2.

The blurb for the Halo 4 post described the news as something "millions of Halo fans have waited for." As Halo: Reach was franchise creator Bungie's last entry to the series, it's likely that Halo 4 will have been developed by Microsoft and 343 Industries. The updated site also mentioned a remastered version of Halo: Combat Evolved that will be released presumably for the tenth anniversary of the first Halo game's November 2001 launch.

This may have been a controlled leak to generate buzz for E3, as its keynote is locking horns with that of the Apple Worldwide Developer's Conference: E3's keynote begins at 12:30 pm EDT, just half an hour before the WWDC keynote. We wonder if Halo 4's announcement will accompany that of a new console, or if Microsoft will let Nintendo steal all the hardware thunder with its Wii successor.

Be sure to follow our liveblog, which kicks off shortly.

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Just hours before the keynote at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, Microsoft pushed an update to its E3 website stating that Halo 4 is "on the way." The post was quickly taken down, but it confirms the existence of the fifth installment in the Halo franchise, as well as other expected games, including Dance Central 2, Kinect Star Wars, and Kinect Sports 2.

The blurb for the Halo 4 post described the news as something "millions of Halo fans have waited for." As Halo: Reach was franchise creator Bungie's last entry to the series, it's likely that Halo 4 will have been developed by Microsoft and 343 Industries. The updated site also mentioned a remastered version of Halo: Combat Evolved that will be released presumably for the tenth anniversary of the first Halo game's November 2001 launch.

This may have been a controlled leak to generate buzz for E3, as its keynote is locking horns with that of the Apple Worldwide Developer's Conference: E3's keynote begins at 12:30 pm EDT, just half an hour before the WWDC keynote. We wonder if Halo 4's announcement will accompany that of a new console, or if Microsoft will let Nintendo steal all the hardware thunder with its Wii successor.

Be sure to follow our liveblog, which kicks off shortly.

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My wii won’t read any of my disks so I have to send it to nintendo and since all my games and stuff are saved on it I don’t want them to send me another wii.

Nintendo has finally confirmed what has long been rumored: the Nintendo Wii will drop in price to $149.99 on May 15, and the new package will allow gamers to choose between a black or white system that comes with Mario Kart Wii and a matching colored Wii Wheel accessory.

"From the day it launched, Wii has let players of all ages and experience levels have fun with one another," said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "The new suggested retail pricing for both the hardware and select games will help create more of these magical moments for even greater numbers of people."

Nintendo is also dropping the price of a number of games, creating a budget line of $20 games, called Nintendo Selects. "The four must-own games in this collection are The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Animal Crossing: City Folk, Mario Super Sluggers and Wii Sports, which is available for the first time as a separate software purchase," Nintendo explained. "Parents and video game fans can now easily expand their library of fun, family-friendly Wii games."

With a new system set to be unveiled no later than this year's E3, Nintendo is in a good position to drop the price on the profitable Wii in order to give the system one last grand push at retail. $150, with some great $20 games, certainly makes this a solid value.

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