Media: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom - TV Spot
Given that the original version of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom was released exclusively in Japan over a year ago and how long we’ve had to wait to get our hands on a (much improved) domestic version, it’s hard to believe that the time is finally nigh. Anticipation seems to be at its peak for the title, and hopefully it will make a good showing for Capcom on the Wii.
And it looks like they’re putting a little extra spit-and-polish on their promotion of this one, giving it the full television commercial treatment and everything. Check it out:
From Capcom: “Our ad agency had the idea to create this stop-motion short (a la Robot Chicken) to celebrate the zanyness of the game. Since it wasn’t something that I recall any other video game publisher doing before, we jumped all over the idea. We tried to keep it as true to the heroes’ characteristics as possible, so you’ll see some signature moves in there. You can see the spot in HD glory on USA, SyFy, Adult Swim and more starting next Monday.”
I’m just thrilled that MegaMan Volnutt got such a prominent spot.
Don’t forget to pre-order for the special lenticular trading cards, or if possible, check out the festivities of the Nintendo World Launch Event.
Media: Halo Waypoint Trailer - Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian
Microsoft’s 343 Industries is shelling out some fresh Halo content to Xbox Live subscribers tomorrow in the form of a four-part series, Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian. A trailer for Saturday’s segment can be seen below.
Video Games | Halo Waypoint | Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian TrailerXBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii
The series starts tomorrow, January 16th.
Media: Mass Effect 2 - Sci vs Fi Documentary Part I
With less than two weeks to go, Mass Effect 2 is sure to set the benchmark for role-playing games in 2010. In order to build excitement for the game, a video documentary featuring a number of big names in the sci fi business has made its way to GameTrailers. If this doesn’t excite the nerd in you, I don’t know what will.
Video Games | Mass Effect 2 | Exclusive Sci vs Fi Doc Part IXBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii
Mass Effect 2 launches on January 26th.
NPD: Wii, DS Titles Command December 2009 Top 20
Nintendo platforms had a commanding presence on NPD Group’s U.S. retail top 20 video game software sales chart for December, made available to Gamasutra this morning. Seven of the top 20 games were available on Nintendo Wii, while six were for Nintendo DS, for a total of 13 Nintendo platform games on the list. Four Xbox 360 games and three PlayStation 3 games made the list. Nintendo was the publisher with the most titles to …
Saling The World: Just Dance Heads Wii Sales in U.S. and UK
Gamasutra’s weekly column, “Saling The World”, covers the top five sellers for every available platform in the United States, Japan, and Europe, providing an important update of sales patterns worldwide. This week’s charts, with data taken from January 14th, 2010, find Ubisoft’s Just Dance leading Nintendo Wii software sales in North America and Europe, while Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep tops multiplatform sales in Japan. Data for “Saling The World” comes courtesy of the public …
Nintendo Not Looking at a Hardware Update Anytime Soon
With Microsoft coming out at CES 2010 and saying that there’s no need to launch a new console, Nintendo has decided to quickly followed suit. Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime, in an interview with Bloomberg BusinessWeek, said consumers shouldn’t expect a new console or any other hardware updates for that matter in the coming months.
For months, pundits have speculated if Nintendo would release a high-definition version of the popular family console, but it doesn’t look like that is something Nintendo is focused on as we move into the annual Game Developers Conference.
In a move to make the Wii into a home entertainment platform – much like its Xbox 360 and PlayStation competitors – Nintendo is allowing its owners to stream Netflix movies and TV episodes to their television via the Wii. Nintendo isn’t the only company taking inspiration from its competitors. Both Sony and Microsoft are jumping on the motion-control bandwagon, hoping to see the same success as Nintendo has. Do you think Nintendo will up the ante even more and announce a high-def Wii by year’s end?
What Capcom Learned From Making Wii Games In 2009 — Brands Really Matter
Look at the top-selling Wii games in December: New Super Mario Bros., Wii Fit Plus and Wii Play. Nintendo has turned Wii into a brand you can trust and Mario — well, he’s Mario. Capcom failed to get an original Wii franchise off the ground last summer with Spyborgs and Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles hasn’t proven nearly as popular as its predecessor, Umbrella Chronicles.
At CES, I spoke with Capcom’s VP of strategic planning and business development Christian Svensson about the company’s lessons from Wii development in 2009. Capcom has been an avid, aggressive supporter of Wii development, but 2009 wasn’t the stellar year they’d hoped.
"One of the things we’ve learned is that known franchises matter a lot to a Wii consumer," he said.
Spyborgs, for example, was not a known franchise. Capcom was trying to make it one.
"I would say Spyborgs was a challenge for us," said Svensson. "We knew it was high-risk [investment] in terms of doing new IP with a ‘gamer game’ on the Wii and it disappointed us, candidly. At the same time, we do have some bright spots here and there."
Those bright spots were Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop, a port of the popular Xbox 360 zombie action game. Critics were especially harsh on Chop Till You Drop, a point that Svensson admitted without question, but the game "did not do badly sales-wise." Additionally, while Resident Evi: Darkside Chronicles is proving a slow burn, "it’s not a disappointment, either."
Svensson made it clear Monster Hunter Tri is one of Capcom’s big Wii hopes for 2009. The series has experienced trouble gaining traction here in the US, despite the rabid popularity in Japan. Monster Hunter Tri, however, introduces a long-missing feature: online multiplayer.
"We’re hoping to use Tri to grow the brand overall in the West," he said. "We’re making a major investment both in marketing and in partnering with Nintendo on it. We’re cautiously optimistic that we’re gonna have some success there."
Unlike Monster Hunter Tri, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom already has notable buzz for Capcom. The latest in Capcom’s long-standing versus fighting titles pits anime characters against some of Capcom’s greatest combatants. Svensson said fighting fans have rallied before the game.
"I fought tooth and nail to bring it over," he said. "But we did so with very conservative forecasts [for sales]. Slowly but surely, the hype train kept rolling along and rolling around and our forecasts kept slowly, slowly, slowly kept climbing up and up and up and it’s now…the forecasts are now — everything is relative — relatively high from where we started."
"What we through we were gonna do [in sales] is now three to four times what we thought we were gonna do," he continued. "It’d be a moderate hit for us if we managed to do those volumes. Again, the fighting game community has been exceptionally supportive of what we’re trying to do there."
So, tell me. How interested are you in either Monster Hunter Tri or Tatsunoko vs. Capcom?
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Reggie: HD Movies "Not Important" To Wii Users
In a recent interview with CNBC, Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime discussed the newly announced Netflix streaming capability of the Wii, but what jumps right out at you is Reggie’s quote about HD versus regular-D:
"The vast majority of content available for streaming through Netflix is not in HD content, so there really is no loss for the Wii consumer that they can’t get HD content through our system, but even more importantly than that, the consumer has voted. Over 26 million consumers have bought a Wii, so the consumer is saying that, for them, the quality of visuals is not nearly as important as the overall entertainment value of that experience."
So do you agree or disagree with Reggie? I understand what he’s talking about — you can’t really argue with the sales numbers of Nintendo! — but on a personal level, I’ll stick with streaming Netflix over my 360. It’s nailed down, doesn’t require a seperate disk, and is in HD. You can’t expect me to watch Stupid Teenagers Must Die in regular definition, right?
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Poll: Do you want a Wii HD?
Mr. Nintendo America, Reggie Fils-Aime, basically said to CNBC that Wii buyers could care less about high-definition. Is that true? Sound off in the poll and the comments after the jump.
BBC iPlayer Console Use Rockets
The BBC has announced a surge in iPlayer console use over the past few months.
“The final two weeks of December 2009 saw a huge increase for people accessing BBC programmes through their games console,” the BBC said in a press release as the on-demand service broke 100 million requests for programmes in a month for the first time. “One in eight of all TV requests are now coming from either a Nintendo Wii or Sony PS3 console, which is an increase of 74% since November 2009.”