Seven News in Australia recently did a story on the Wii. Great to see Nintendo getting so much attention in Australia.

Source: Youtube

Various Wii screenshots from the Wii Preview 2006 Online Press Kit. Click on images for larger image.

Battalion Wars

Excite Truck

Mario Galaxy

Mario Strikers: Charged

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Red Steel

Source: Nintendo

Playing slideshows to your own music? Is Nintendo thinking about competing with iTunes? There's been lots of hints from Nintendo that they still have some big announcements still to come concerning the Channels and Connect24.

Source: Youtube

IGN got to try out Metroid Prime 3: Corruption's new expert control mode.

We started up a new level where heroine Samus Aran explores a vast space station and immediately switched to expert mode. We're happy to report that it simulates the accuracy of PC first-person shooters almost perfectly, and we found ourselves soaring through levels, zipping around corners, pulling quick turns and zapping down enemies with pinpoint precision within seconds. Simply put, Retro has pretty much nailed it - and it makes the wait to 2007 for the game that much more difficult. We're not kidding when we write that Prime 3 feels like a brand new game with this control.

Source: IGN

Nintendo Australia has revealed that they will be releasing the Wii in Australia in the 7th December.

As part of a global launch period, Wii will arrive in Australia on December 7th. Wii will be sold as an affordable, mass-consumer product at an SRP of just $399.95. The price includes one wireless Wii Remote controller, one Nunchukâ„¢ controller and the groundbreaking collection of five different Wii Sports games on one disc, which anyone can play using simple movements, experienced or not.

Source: Nintendo Australia

Madden NFL 07 for Wii will have graphics that will challenge those of the XBox 360. Looks like Wii's similar architecture to the Gamecube is really helping developers.

IGN Wii: Let's talk about graphics. Right or wrong, Madden for Wii is undoubtedly going to be compared to the GameCube build. Meanwhile, we've been playing a lot of the 360 version. In terms of visuals, where does the Wii incarnation fit in?

Jason Armenise: We get the graphics question all the time. Every time we talk about the game we get the graphics question. A lot of people - even passionate Nintendo fans - are kind of dismissing the graphics, saying, "We know it's going to be third, yadda, yadda, yadda." We didn't take that attitude. Right from the beginning, we said, "You know what? We need to make this game look better than Xbox at the very minimum. And if possible, we need to challenge the Xbox 360 version." That was our goal from the first day.

So we've done a whole host of things that put the game far in advance of the GameCube and we think better than the Xbox. And in some cases, we're challenging the Xbox 360 on graphics. First of all, the game is HD compliant. You can play 480p and 16:9 widescreen. That means everybody who has a HDTV can play the game with their component outputs and play in 480p and 16:9 widescreen while running at 60 frames per second, which is awesome. Additionally we've upped the texture quality on players. Textures are a higher quality. In many cases, they are higher than the Xbox version. We've added a whole host of features like depth of field. We've added a feature we call cinematic lens effect, which is like when you look through an actual television camera and straight lines get a little bit bowed in real life. We've increased the shadows. The shadows are better. We have something called contact shadows so that if two players get close to each other you'll see the shadow of one bleed onto the shadow of another. We've increased the grass. Our grass looks like it has more depth to it. It looks more lush than GameCube. It's definitely a much better looking game than on GameCube and we think that it really is challenging Xbox 360 in some places.

Source: IGN

NINTENDO'S INCOMPARABLE WII CONSOLE LAUNCHES NOV. 19; MSRP $249.99

30 New Games, 30 Retro Titles, User-Friendly ‘Channels’ Make it the Affordable System for Gamers, Newcomers and Families

NEW YORK, Sept. 14, 2006 – Nintendo will reshape the home entertainment and video game landscape with the launch of its heralded Wii™ home video game console. The Americas will lead the worldwide launch on Nov. 19. Wii will be sold as an affordable, mass-consumer product at an MSRP of just $249.99. The price includes one wireless Wii Remote controller, one Nunchuk™ controller and the groundbreaking collection of five different Wii Sports games on one disc, which anyone can play using simple movements, experienced or not.

Every Wii console includes another distinctive feature: a series of on-screen “channels” that make up the Wii Channel Menu, which makes the console approachable and customizable for everyone, from the most avid gamer to people who have never played before. The Wii Channel Menu is the starting point for all of the console’s functions. The “channels” offer a gateway to a rich variety of entertainment options. When connected to a TV, the Wii Channel Menu offers a simple interface, letting users pick games to play, get news or weather, view and send photos or even create playable caricatures of themselves to use in actual games. Additional functions allow users to redeem Wii Points and download classic games to Wii’s Virtual Console™. The variety of options available through the Wii Channel Menu motivates both gamers and non-gamers to turn on Wii’s power every day.

Wii is creating worldwide excitement with its unique control system, an inventive, first-of-its-kind controller whose position can be detected in a 3-D space. The new controller allows users to pinpoint targets in games or move through the Wii Channel Menu with precision and ease. This intuitive control system will be understood immediately by everyone, regardless of their previous experience with video games. With this one small controller, Wii makes games both easier and more intense than anything previously experienced. For example, in the Wii Sports tennis game, players swing the Wii Remote like a racket to hit the ball, as in real life. They can add topspin or slice the ball just by angling their hands and wrist like they would in a real match.

“Wii reinvents games for the devoted player,” says Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. “But more importantly, Wii breaks the wall separating players from non-players by delivering the best game experiences for the most affordable price. We believe the next leap is games for the masses – young and old, gamer or non, alone, with a friend or with the whole family.”

Fils-Aime made his remarks in New York, shortly after Nintendo executives in Japan announced Wii will launch there on Dec. 2.

Between launch day and Dec. 31, Wii owners will enjoy a robust lineup of 30 software titles, with selections for everyone from video game veterans to newcomers. Some top Nintendo launch titles include Wii Sports, a compilation of tennis, baseball, golf, bowling and boxing; The Legend of Zelda®: Twilight Princess; and EXCITE TRUCK™. While publishers are free to set their own prices for games, first-party Nintendo titles will have an MSRP of $49.99. Wii’s self-loading media bay also can play the entire library of more than 530 Nintendo GameCube™ titles from day one.

Third-party developers around the world have lined up to provide unprecedented support for Wii.

“The Wii is changing audience interaction, opening up whole new experiences that have never been possible in video games,” says Robert Kotick, Chairman and CEO, Activision, Inc. “With the instinctual control of the Wii Remote, Nintendo is advancing the gaming experience to the broadest audience of gamers. Activision is excited about the launch of the Wii and the opportunity it offers. So much so, we plan to have five titles available at launch – our strongest lineup ever for a new console. We have more development resources devoted to the Wii than to any previous Nintendo platform. The Wii is likely to have a profound impact on the size, growth and overall opportunities for the video game market.”

“I believe the Wii will attract new and casual gamers to the world of interactive entertainment,” says Larry Probst, Chairman and CEO, Electronic Arts. “It’s a fun, easy and economical system that will become a bridge to gaming for mainstream audiences. At EA, we are putting more support behind the Wii than any Nintendo hardware launch since the Super NES.”

“The Wii control scheme opens up unexplored areas for our talented teams to innovate when creating games,” says Laurent DeToc, President of Ubisoft North America. “It’s invigorating for us. We believe that it will help create a new level of interest in video games and engage more players around the world.”

Additional information about the list of Virtual Console games and the pricing structure will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Source: Nintendo

The Opera browser used with the Wii will be compatible with the latest Flash and AJAX technologies.

Source: nintendo.co.jp