By Nadia Oxford on Jun 20, 2011 in Marketing, Wii U
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When Nintendo showed off a few of the third party titles coming to the Wii U in 2012, you probably noticed some familiar faces in the trailer. Said faces are more familiar than you think: All the footage used in the video came from PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game.
When GameTrailers asked Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime outright whether or not the Wii U’s third party reel utilized footage from competitors, Fils-Aime was open...
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By Nadia Oxford on Jun 17, 2011 in Microsoft
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Every so often, a game system will achieve such widespread distribution that its name becomes the replacement noun for the actual act of video gaming. People might say, “Want to play Nintendo?” instead of saying, “Want to play some video games?”
Console engineers rocket over the moon when they achieve that honor, and for good reason: It means their own system has become the very definition of entertainment. Microsoft says that the Xbox brand...
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By Nadia Oxford on Jun 17, 2011 in Business, Game Design, Game Development
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Though Square-Enix publishes some of the most beloved game series of all time, including Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, the company doesn’t always endear itself to its North American followers. From half-assed work on its most important titles, to shutting down fan projects at the last possible second, to (some will claim) recycling the same hero archetypes and costumes game after game after multimillion dollar game, Square-Enix commands a huge fan base that...
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By Nadia Oxford on Jun 16, 2011 in Business, Culture, Game Design
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E3 is three solid days of flipping out over video games. Every minute on the show floor is crammed with gaming: We run from kiosk to kiosk, sampling this and that. A certain metaphor about kids in candy stores comes to mind, and boy, is it apt.
So it’s kind of weird to lean back after E3, reflect on what we’ve played, and ask ourselves, “Gee…what’s new?”
Nobody is questioning the quality of the demos, all of which offered up...
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By Nadia Oxford on Jun 16, 2011 in Journalism, Marketing, Nintendo
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If you attended Nintendo’s E3 2011 press conference, or if you watched the live feed, you probably clapped after seeing the trailer for the Wii U and exclaimed, “Great!…So, uh, is this a new video game system, or what?”
The Wii U is most definitely a whole new console; it’s more powerful than the Wii, and possibly even more powerful than the PlayStation 3. It features impressive high-definition graphics. Unfortunately for Nintendo, a...
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By Nadia Oxford on Jun 15, 2011 in Business, PlayStation Vita, Sony
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Some might argue that the smartphone market is strangling the portable gaming market, but Nintendo and Sony are having none of it. Both companies are pushing against Apple’s advances with immense strength.
At E3 2011, Sony familiarized us with its latest soldier in the fight: The PlayStation Vita, or, if you like, the PS Vita. The portable handheld system, which will probably be available near the end of 2011, will come in two flavors: One with 3G and Wi-Fi...
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By Nadia Oxford on Jun 15, 2011 in Business, Culture, Disruptive Tech
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The unveiling of the Wii U at E3 2011 confirmed a point that’s been illustrated since the home console industry was resurrected in the ’80s: Nintendo does its own thing. After all, Nintendo’s independence is what brought motion controls to living rooms across America–and spawned a “casual/core gamer” divide in its wake.
Since other concerns mushroomed on top of the Wii’s success, including Nintendo’s hesitation to...
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By Nadia Oxford on Jun 13, 2011 in Disruptive Tech, Nintendo, Video Games
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If you’re a longtime fan of video games, then you’ve doubtlessly said, “Oh God, what is Nintendo doing?” at least once through your gaming career. When it comes to unveiling seemingly crazy ideas, Nintendo is king–and the company has surprised us once again with the introduction of the Wii U at E3 2011.
Though Nintendo could have engineered an HD follow up to the Wii that snuggled into a safe crevice by implementing a traditional...
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By Nadia Oxford on Jun 13, 2011 in Culture, E3
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E3 2011 was the usual flurry of meetings, previews, and press conferences. Handshakes were exchanged, controllers were gripped and music blared until June 9, when the proprietors of the Los Angeles Convention Center flicked off the lights and said, “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”
Attendance for E 2011 was healthy: Early numbers indicate that over 46,000 exhibitors, developers, publishers, retailers, and members of the...
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By Nadia Oxford on Jun 10, 2011 in Business, Digital Distribution, Game Development
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If you’re amongst the growing number of gamers who are unhappy about the gradual dissipation of the single-player experience, Silicon Knights’ boss, Denis Dyack, has someone you can blame: GameStop.
Last month, Dyack told IndustryGamers that developers are being forced to build their games around multiplayer options because the used game trade–which GameStop more or less owns–is putting a serious hurt on game studios.
Dyack said,...
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