Super Smash Brothers Brawl on Nintendo Wii - Disk Errors

The lucky people who've already picked up a copy of Smash Brothers. Brawl in America, may of had some disk errors when inserting your disk into the Wii console. Although it may be just a common problem, it seems as though Nintendo had known about it prior to the release of 'Brawl.

They've set up a website and user form to help costumers who are experiencing problems. You can find it here.

Below is the contents of the user form:

Super Smash Bros. Brawl utilizes a double-layer disc which has a large memory capacity. A very small percentage of Wii consoles may have trouble consistently reading data off this large capacity disc if there is some contamination on the lens of the disc drive. Nintendo has specialized cleaning equipment that can resolve this problem. (Please do NOT attempt to clean the lens yourself, as you may damage the system.)

“How can I get this fixed and how long will it take?”
If you are experiencing disc read errors, please utilize the form below to request a repair order. Nintendo is upgrading inbound and outbound shipping to expedite the total repair process. Specific repair times will be provided as you fill out the repair form below. There is no cost for the repair or shipping. Please note: returning the game to the retail store will not solve the problem. So we encourage users who are experiencing issues with playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl to utilize this repair order process.

“What if I have Virtual Console games or other stored data on my Wii console?”
Due to the nature of this particular issue, you should not lose any of your stored data. In some rare cases you may have to re-download your Virtual Console games from the Wii Shop Channel, but there is no cost to doing so.

“Who can use this form?”
Consumers who are at least 13 years old, and live in:

* The continental United States, Alaska, or Hawaii
* Puerto Rico
* U.S. Territories (such as Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands)
* APO/FPO addresses

Repair Form
To begin the repair process, please complete this short repair form. After you submit this form, you will be sent an e-mail with complete instructions on how to proceed with your free factory repair. Please ensure you provide a valid e-mail address.

From: Nintencast

Creating Minimal Pixel Art with Photoshop

Hello, my name is Rich and I make pixel art. I create graphics and animations for the retro-style games of Pixeljam.com, and also create other forms of pixel art that I may mention later on.

This is a tutorial on drawing with pixels… of sorts. I don't really know what it is exactly, but what I do know is that I'm going to create, display and talk about making minimal pixel art, as well as provide some info about using Adobe Photoshop to help you make your own pixel art.

More here... Game Dev

Sony PlayStation Portable has leapfrogged the Nintendo platforms in the latest Japanese hardware sales with Mint

Latest Blume series device propels handheld to top of hardware chart

The Sony PlayStation Portable has leapfrogged the Nintendo platforms in the latest Japanese hardware sales chart with the release of the new mint green edition of the handheld.

The new colour saw an additional 20,000 units sold over the previous week, bringing it up to almost 74,000 for the week ending March 2, according to Media Create.

The Nintendo Wii - last week's best-seller - had to settle for second place with 64,500 units sold, while the Nintendo DS remained in third place.

The other three consoles all saw sales remain mostly flat from the previous week, with the PlayStation 3 selling 13,500 units, the PlayStation 2 shifting almost 11,000, and the Xbox 360 selling around 2300.

The full sales breakdown is as follows:

1. PlayStation Portable: 73,706
2. Nintendo Wii: 64,535
3. Nintendo DS: 51,922
4. PlayStation 3: 13,520
5. PlayStation 2: 10,986
6. Xbox 360: 2282

Infogrames offers to buy Atari

Offering $1.68 per share for remaining stock

Atari Inc has announced that it received a letter from Infogrames Entertainment SA, the company's majority shareholder, expressing its intent to acquire the remaining outstanding stock of the company.

Infogrames' offer, which is non-binding, amounts to USD 1.68 per share for the Atari Inc stock it does not own.

Atari Inc said that a special committee of the company's board of directors intends to undertake, together with its advisors, a thorough evaluation of the proposal.

There is no assurance that any transaction will occur or to the terms of any transaction.

The Infogrames business is currently in the midst of a resurgence lead by the vision of new CEO David Gardner.

Gardner has placed great value on the Atari brand, and intends to rebuild the struggling company as a destination for online gaming.

This week former Sony executive Phil Harrison joined Infogrames as president, where he will oversee software development and other creative aspects of the business.

Source: Games Industry

New Mario Kart on Nintendo Wii online details

With Mario Kart Wii’s launch date of 11 April fast approaching, Wii owners are gearing up for a racing experience unrivalled by any other in the kart racing series. While the game introduces a slew of new features across the board, perhaps most eagerly awaited are its online options, which take the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection action found in Mario Kart DS to a whole new level.

In Mario Kart Wii you can go online via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection by yourself or together with a friend playing on the same Wii console, and let the games begin! You can directly jump into online races with random players Worldwide, or opt for Continental if you prefer a challenge closer to home.

Then you will be placed in a new group of people looking for a match, or you will join an existing group. When the latter happens you will become a spectator of that group’s race currently in progress, as you wait for your turn to hit the track. With up to 12 players being able to battle or race on the circuits of the Mushroom Kingdom simultaneously, Mario Kart Wii is set to provide the biggest challenge in the series to date!

After swapping Friend Codes with other players, you will also be able to see how many of your mates are online, and choose to Create a Room or select Join Friend to gather in a room with your friends before you start your engines.

Once inside a room, the globe familiar from the Forecast Channel will highlight the location of all players present. This is where you can text chat with your friends by making a selection from dozens of predefined messages, letting you suggest exactly which kind of race you want to play: from Battle to Grand Prix, and from Team play to your circuit of choice. The Host then decides the race settings, but the track selection is based on the votes of all players combined.

Mario Kart Wii also allows you to install the Mario Kart Channel on your Wii console. This Channel lets you check up on a host of options without the need of inserting the Mario Kart Wii disc into your system.
The Ranking option lets you see your statistics for each track and compare your results to those of your Friends and other players worldwide, represented by their Miis. You’ll have the option of racing against the Ghosts of the best players, or improving your results gradually by taking on the Ghosts of rivals whose times are only slightly better than yours. Players can choose whether they want to share their Time Trial Ghosts with the rest of the world, allowing you to match your skills against the cream of the crop whenever you want.

Another all-new feature of this Channel are the Competitions, where Nintendo will on a regular basis invite players to speedy challenges similar to the Missions of Mario Kart DS. The Channel also allows you to check your ranking in running Competitions as well as Time Trials. You can also go here to register Friends and see if any of them are currently online.

Source: WiiNintendo

Student developed Nintendo DS games downloadable at DS stations

At last year’s Nintendo Game seminar the house of Mario worked with a number of students to create a handful of experimental Nintendo DS games. Rather than being kept in storage for no one to play, Nintendo is releasing these games for free at DS download stations around Japan. Each game will be around for two weeks before it vanishes from the station and to some extent existence. Since the DS does not have flash memory once these demos are pulled off they won’t be playable unless someone keeps a DS in perma-sleep mode.

Unfortunately, this service is only available in Japan. 

Some of these sound really neat, but also language intensive. Wakerai no Heya Tsuzuki (pictured) is a touch screen horror game that plays in book style similar to Hotel Dusk: Room 215. Kiki Master is a conversation game where you act as a sounding board for the resident’s ridiculous problems. The first game, Nan de Momo Koko Yasan, might be the easiest to understand. In the game players use a magical paintbrush to color objects.

Just in case you are living in Japan here is the download schedule:

3.13 - 3.26 Nan de Momo Koko Yasan

3.27 - 4.09 Wakeari no Heya Tsuzuki

4.10 - 4.23 Kiki Master

4.24 - 5.07 Watashi no Otochabako

Source: Siliconera

Junior journalist stars in Success Amazing Animals on Nintendo Wii

At last we have a better look at Doubutsu Kisou Tengai: Nazo no Rakuen de Scoop Shashin wo Gekishaseyo.

You know the Wii game based on the TBS show Amazing Animals?
No?
That’s OK, it only looks decent.

The game stars a kid reporter who explores an island inhabited by wild animals. Giraffes, elephants and lions are some of the beasts you can meet.

Oh and the Doubutsu Kisou Tengai game has a robot named Robomaru that accompanies you. While the robot who has a mini satellite on his head makes the game slightly more interesting, it doesn't improve odds that we're going to see this leave Japan because of licensing issues.

Source: Siliconera

Success brings Amazing Animals to Nintendo Wii

I’m not entirely familiar with Doubutsu Kisou Tengai (aka Amazing Animals), but if I recall correctly the show contains a series of animal tricks.

Somehow Success Corp is going to turn this into a Nintendo Wii game called Doubutsu Kisou Tengai: Nazo no Rakuen de Scoop Shashin wo Gekishaseyo scheduled to come out May 22.

By the sound of the title it looks like players are going to be searching for breaking animal headlines. Perhaps, it’s a photography game like Pokemon Snap?

The other possibility that comes to mind is players become the animals doing tricks, which are broken down into a series of waggle mini-games.

It’s really unclear what Success has planned for the license, but since it’s coming out in the near future we should find out if Success Corp’s concept soon.

From: Siliconera

Blueberry Garden - Strange video game

A Story from The Blueberry Garden

Click To Play

The birds and the party hats were living their peaceful lives at separate sides of the tower.

One day the birds decided to move to the other side of the tower where the party hats had their home. Since the birds could fly they ate all the blueberries before the party hats could reach them.

Now the party hats are dead.

Home of Blueberry garden

Xbox 360 to get Blu-ray HD DVD drives?

Game sites are abuzz with rumours that one-time HD DVD stalwart Microsoft is now considering a Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360. Speculation is swinging both ways, with some pundits claiming it to be improbable and others stating that talks are already underway.

Let’s look at the issue from a few different perspectives.

First off, current rumours aside, how likely is an Xbox 360 Blu-ray drive? I remember being in the audience for Bill Gates’ keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2006 when he casually mentioned that Microsoft could create an external Blu-ray drive just as easily as the HD DVD drive that it planned to ship later that year. That tells me two things: 1) Microsoft has, at the very least, given the idea some thought over the last few years, and 2) in terms of technology, an Xbox 360 Blu-ray drive is quite feasible.

Next, what form might this hypothetical gizmo take? Is an external drive the only option, or could we see a Super-Duper Elite Xbox 360 with internal Blu-ray capabilities instead? It’s anyone’s guess at this point. An external drive might seem the obvious choice, since it could easily be attached to the 20 million Xbox 360s already in people’s homes, but such a device would only happen if Microsoft can make one on the cheap (and keep in mind they would have to license the technology from Sony—oh, to be a fly on the wall in those meetings).

And that brings us to the final question: Does it make sense? From the perspective of Xbox 360 owners, an external drive would simply be a way to watch high-definition movies, offering no advantage to the games they play. Identical functionality could be obtained just as easily by purchasing any number of standalone players—including a PlayStation 3. The Super-Duper Elite Xbox 360 with integrated Blu-ray drive we imagined above might be appealing to first time buyers of Microsoft’s console, but it would almost certainly be prohibitively expensive.

The bottom line is this: Regardless of the form it might take, if a Blu-ray drive does find its way to Microsoft’s current console, it will be—at best—a niche product.

Personally, I’m more interested to learn about the optical drive technology going into the next generation Xbox, which has been forecast to arrive as early as 2010. Is there any option other than Blu-ray? Will Microsoft be forced into a key partnership with one of its greatest competitors?

Source: Globe & Mail