Nintendo Wii U

At this year’s CES Nintendo was showing off the Nintendo Wii U, their new gaming console , first shown last summer and which should finally go on sale in Q3 2012. The original Wii launched in 2006 and drew millions of casual gamers into the console market with its gesture-control gameplay, but in 2012 the competition from smartphones and dual – and quad-core tablets is much stiffer. Nintendo’s 3DS handheld gaming device met with poor launch sales, forcing Nintendo to slash prices in a desperate attempt to boost sales . The latest version features a new controller with a large touchscreen display .

It looks a bit like a tablet, which might be distracting, but it means multiplayer games can focus on a particular player’s immediate surroundings for extra interactivity. Nintendo has confirmed that the latest console is compatible with the last generation of Wii paddles.

Older versions used a sensor bar plugged into the paddle to track the user’s movements, whereas the new controller will have a built-in sensor bar so that it can calculate the position of the other (or older) controllers. the new console is expected to be released in Q3 2012.

Via Techspot

Anyone who thinks their gaming skills would be improved by a right-hand circle pad on the Nintendo 3DS could be in luck; Nintendo 3DS Expansion Slide Pad is now available for pre-order in Japan via Amazon. The expansion pad debuted at last month’s Tokyo Game Show, and is selling for around $20.

It’s an interesting development considering the popularity of over-the-air firmware updates, and perhaps bolt-on upgrades will be extended to tablets and netbooks…a little more graphical processing power wouldn’t go amiss on a few of the current offerings.

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nintendo-3ds-firmware-update

The planned November firmware update to the Nintendo 3DS games console has been postponed to Dec 8. The update will add 3D recording and playback capability to the console, and adding extra games for StreetPass Miis.

It will also enable users to transfer data between devices. Nintendo’s 3DS has been less of a hit than expected but Monster Hunter 4, Bravely Default: Flying Fairy, Resident Evil and Mario Tennis will all appear for the handheld console in 2012.

One year after the events of Final Fantasy XII, Vaan travels the skies of Ivalice with his navigator Penelo at his side. Their treasure hunting adventures take them to the sky continent of Lemures where they meet Llyud, a member of the aegyl race. These winged people have been living on the floating continent for centuries, but a disturbance has allowed treasure-seeking sky pirates to breach their once-hidden territory. It falls to Vaan and his band of young sky pirates to stand up against the trespassers, and defend the sky continent and its people.

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The Kingdom Hearts action role-playing series makes its DS debut with an original storyline that falls in between the original Kingdom Hearts (2002) and Kingdom Hearts II (2005). You control a boy named Roxas, loyal member of the mysterious Organization XIII, on a quest to collect hearts from the shadowy creatures known as the Heartless. As with previous games in the franchise, you will interact with both Final Fantasy and Disney characters while completing various missions on worlds from Disney films. Quickly organize weapons, spells, equipment, and abilities with the new panel system. For the first time in a Kingdom Hearts game, you’ll be able to team-up with three friends to complete challenges.

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Pokémon Platinum Version comes bursting with new locations to explore and new characters to encounter, adding to the overall excitement of this fun-filled world. The game’s enhanced storyline introduces you to Charon, a new Commander of Team Galactic, and an undercover detective nicknamed “Looker” who’s investigating Team Galactic. Discover fascinating new locations, such as Distortion World, in which the normal rules of time and space don’t apply, allowing you to walk sideways or even upside-down, as well as the Battle Frontier, containing five new Battle Facilities in which you can encounter thrilling new challenges. Connect with friends from around the world in the amusement park-style fun of the new Wi-Fi Plaza, where you can play games, take part in parades and even watch fireworks.

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Super Mario 64 was a genre-defining classic. Now it arrives on the Nintendo DS with all-new features that take advantage of the new portable system’s dual screens, touch screen and wireless features! Mario, Luigi and Wario are invited to a royal party for Princess Peach. When they arrive at the castle, it is strangely empty and the 3 of them try to learn what happened. When they disappear too, Yoshi must rescue them from their old enemy Bowser.

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The first of Atlus’ demon-themed Shin Megami Tensei games to come to the DS in North America, Devil Survivor puts players in the role of a nameless high-school sophomore who becomes trapped in Tokyo after the entire city is locked down by the government. Called to the city to meet his cousin Naoya, the player character and his two friends instead find only a mysterious handheld game known as a “COMP” that can be used to contact and employ demons.

The official government story is that a dangerous gas has begun seeping from the ground, but those inside the barricaded city know that the real danger comes from a massive demon outbreak, and that there are only seven days left before all of Tokyo will be destroyed. Gamers will come into contact with a variety of characters, along the way learning to use the COMP to summon demons and making difficult decisions that may result in the loss of innocent lives, all in an effort to save Tokyo and find out exactly what happened to Naoya.

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Mega Man Star Force returns to DS with a storyline that picks up where the second role-playing game ends. Geo Stellar, Mega Man, and his friends must stop a meteor from hitting Earth by eliminating an insidious computer virus known as “wizard.” As with its predecessors, Star Force 3 combines exploration in 220X Earth and strategic, card-enhanced combat within cyberspace. New to the series is the ability for Mega Man to change his form in the digital realm and master new abilities. These “noise changes” offer more than 100 potential transformations in combat. Star Force 3 comes in two variants, Red Joker and Black Ace, which feature identical play mechanics yet distinct noise types to collect and trade via Nintendo Wi-Fi connection.

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Magic-minded gamers have a chance to play through the penultimate Potter picture, in the interactive interpretation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Based on the film and featuring characters modeled on the likenesses of its stars, the game presents missions and side-quests that lead players through the story of the sixth novel in J.K. Rowling’s extraordinarily popular book series. In terms of play style, Half-Blood Prince is similar to its immediate predecessor, Order of the Phoenix. Players are free to explore Hogwarts, the sprawling arcane academy, where they will find discovery points, in key locations, that activate quests and challenges which can reveal plot information and move the story forward.

Players can enter into wizard duels and play Quidditch in the game, and as in the book, the powerful effects of both custom-brewed potions and teenage romance can have heavy influence over the way events unfold. Half-Blood Prince features a day-night cycle, allowing players to sneak out after sundown and complete missions that might raise suspicion in the light of day. In addition to duels with students from other Hogwarts houses, players will face off against dangerous opponents such as Death Eaters and Inferi. As Gryffindor’s star seeker, players will also compete for the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup. Following the story of the book, mini-games allow players to try their hand at mixing potions, using recipes from the old, annotated textbook of the mysterious Half Blood Prince.

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