Review » Nintendo DS outsold 3DS two-to-one in June

According to new figures released by Nintendo on Friday, the company sold twice as many Nintendo DS gaming consoles as it did newer Nintendo 3DS devices. The Japanese firm revealed that it sold 386,000 Nintendo DS systems as opposed to just 143,000 3DS units in June, according to MSNBC. It’s likely that the popularity of the DS can be attributed to its lower price point, but the small pool of 3D games could also be hurting 3DS sales; game publishers have yet to release some of the most anticipated 3D titles, such as The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time 3D. The gaming industry hasn’t jumped for the device as much as Nintendo had hoped, either. Although Nintendo said that it moved 400,000 units during its first week of U.S. availability, the firm also said overall sales were weaker than expected.

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TriMount Turns Your TV Into an Ugly But Organized Gaming Nirvana

Once upon a time, it was possible for hardcore gamers to ply their avocation inconspicuously, their games and controllers stored in boxes, and their consoles tucked away behind the doors of their entertainment center or component cabinet.  These days, however, motion is A Big Deal, and as a result, taking full advantage of a modern console requires placing a sensor of some kind out in the open, usually on top of your TV.  But HDTVs only have so much real estate on top of their ever-slimmer frames, and naturally the big three console makers have no interest in making it easy to use a competitor’s sensor in addition to their own, so the number of consoles a gamer can use effectively becomes limited by how many sensors one can haphazardly stack on top of one’s TV.

Well, multi-platform gamers need fret no longer, because the dreamGEAR TriMount is here to solve our sensor-placement woes for good.  Attaching easily to most HDTVs via an adjustable screw or to a wall via a wall mount, the TriMount provides space for the Xbox 360 Kinect Sensor, the PlayStation Eye, and the Wii Sensor Bar.  The resultant amalgamation of cameras and sensors ends up looking like some sort of dystopian Big Brother surveillance device, but at only $29.99 it may be just what the doctor ordered, presuming that your doctor’s last name is “Mario”, “Robotnik”, or “Wily”.

The TriMount is currently available for pre-order at the dreamGEAR website, and will begin shipping on 8/15/2011.

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REVIEW >> Japanese News Confirms Nintendo’s New Controller to Have Touchscreen, Camera

 

A Japan-based newspaper has reported that Nintendo’s upcoming gaming system, which is codenamed “Project Cafe,” will have touchscreen controllers with built-in cameras. This report has confirmed, or at least given more credibility, long-running rumors about the next-gen Nintendo Wii.

Nikkei added that the controller will have a six-inch touchscreen display and camera, as well as tablet-like functionality. Thinking about it, the console might look like a Wii being controlled by a slimmer Nintendo DSi. How that would work? We will have to find out.

Nintendo is set to unveil this new gaming gadget at this year’s E3 next week.

Source: Nikkei, via CrunchGear

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REVIEW: Real Racing 2 HD Update Steals Wii U’s Thunder

 

The Nintendo Wii U may be an innovation in gaming, but it won’t be the first one to introduce the touchscreen controller system to consumers. Real Racing 2 HD, a popular race app on iPad, has announced an update to its previous one that enables users to play the game straight to the TV while using the tablet as the controller. This time, there will be no need for wires to connect the iPad and the TV as users could simply use AirPlay technology to beam every turn straight to the television screen. Users would need an Apple TV or other Mac device connected to the television for this wireless gaming to work. Also, this update would only be made available once iOS 5 is released around fall.

In the meantime, you can download Real Racing 2 HD for $12.99 from the Apple App Store.

Source: Firemint

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REVIEW: THQ uDraw GameTablet Gives Xbox 360 and PS3 the “Wii U Experience”

 

The introduction of Nintendo’s Wii U gaming system may have made some people wondering whether Microsoft and Sony would create their own touchscreen controllers, much like how the two companies created the Kinect and PlayStation Move, respectively, in response to Nintendo Wii’s motion gaming. Actually, they have, but with a gaming device created by a third party.

THQ comes up with the uDraw GameTablet, a slate device that would cater to both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Like the Wii U controller, it has a touchscreen display that also can be used for drawing and handwriting. However, it is noticeably thinner than the Wii U counterpart mainly due to the lack of a Wiimote holder, something the two other consoles do not need.

So far, both Xbox 360 and PS3 have yet to unveil games that will support the uDraw, but the device itself features uDraw Studio and Pictionary, which are bound to leave you busy for hours. Both versions of the THQ uDraw GameTablet will be available in November for less than $100.

Source: Engadget

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REVIEW: Nyko Reveals Gear for Nearsighted Kinect and Longer-Lasting Nintendo 3DS

 

Gaming gear maker Nyko unveils an array of helpful accessories for your gaming devices at this year’s E3. First of the bunch is the Zoom for Kinect, a clip-on spectacles that is set right in front of Kinect’s sensor bar, allowing you to get 40 percent closer to the device with no loss of function. This makes motion gaming with Kinect a whole lot of fun even in smaller spaces.

Meanwhile, the Nyko Play Clock (pictured, left) is a charging dock for Nintendo 3DS that also functions as an alarm clock. Why you ask? Perhaps someone out there would rather use his 3DS as an wakee-upper rather than the iPhone, the iPod, or let alone an actual alarm clock.

Finally, Nyko rolls out not one, but three new extended battery packs for the Nintendo 3DS for longer battery life. The Shock n’ Rock brings triple battery life, vibration feedback, and four speakers. The Power Grip is an external battery that not only triples the battery life, but is also ergonomic to handle. And the Game Boost (pictured, right) is a simple snap-on accessory, giving your 3DS an extra hour or two of gameplay.

All of these accessories still have mysterious prices and availability dates, so you better keep an eye here for more updates.

Source: Engadget

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REVIEW: Nyko Play Clock For Nintendo 3DS

With the Nintendo 3DS becoming a popular portable gaming console, other accessories may tend to give it some added useful features. There’s the Nyko Play Clock that would give your 3DS a unique feature while you are charging it. It might be reminiscent of those docking stations made for smartphones.

The Nyko Play Clock is a charging dock for the Nintendo 3DS that features more than just a charging facility for your portable gaming device. It also features an alarm clock as well as an AM/FM radio. It comes with its own powered stereo speakers that allow users to access music files stored on their 3DS and listen to it on the Nyko Play Clock. It also features a line-in port that allows users to access music files from their smartphones, MP3 players and more. The Nyko Play clock is now available at Nyko for US$40.

Image Source: Nyko

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REVIEW: Nintendo Unveils Wii U Gaming Console

 

After weeks of speculation, Nintendo has finally unveiled its latest generation of gaming console. The Wii U features a large, touchscreen controller with buttons similar to current Wii controllers. The Wii U controller is just as motion-sensitive, but I doubt you would use it like a sword or tennis racket, but thankfully plain ol’ Wii controllers work just fine on the new console.

The big deal about the touchscreen is that players can switch the game to the controller and change the channel on the TV in case other people in the room are not as excited about watching the Wii U. The touchscreen also works as a means of displaying a game’s inventory without having to switch menus back and forth on the TV. It can even be used as an aiming device, thanks to its built-in accelerometers and gyroscope. The touchscreen even seems to recognize handwriting, judging from the demo.

But what make Nintendo Wii U a standout is its games, with its higher-quality graphics and more mature themes. Initial titles include Aliens: Colonial Marines, Ghost Recon, and even a bloodier Ninja Gaiden.

The Nintendo Wii U (as in “unique,” by the way) is expected to arrive in 2012.

Source: CrunchGear

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REVIEW: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or Nintendo Wii, what is better

 

Here are three top consoles nowadays that you can choose from. Sony PlayStation 3 the next generation console that continues a glorious path of PlayStation and PlayStation 2. Xbox 360: the next console from Microsoft is created in continuation of Xbox. Finally Nintendo Wii the least expensive and shows the least performance.

So we are going to review and compare them on several parameters, so that you can decide which is better for yourself.

Hardware

Xbox 360 is on the second place by hardware parameters. First of all there are two models that you can buy. One of them is a regular white Xbox 360 with wired controllers and no hard drive. The upgraded model has wireless controllers and a 20 GB hard drive to save photos, videos and audio files. It also has a standard DVD optical drive that allows the console to show HD videos. The last thing that should you should be notified is that Microsoft will upgrade your Xbox 360 for free for it to support full GD 1080p video output.

Sony PlayStation 3 is in the first place if judged by hardware. It has Blue-ray drive that is not available on basic or premium Xbox 360 (You can buy it for additional $ 200 which makes Xbox 360 cost just like PS3.) Besides, the 20 GB hard drive comes in basic model and 60 GB drive comes in upgrade model. Besides the premium version of PS3 has WiFi built in.

Nintendo being the least expensive has the worst hardware built in therefore it shows the least productivity among Xbox 360 and PS3. It has a DVD drive but there is no ability to play DVD movies on it. However, it has WiFi built in to surf the web.

Games

Xbox 360 and PS3 are somewhat even in this classification because the number and the quality of games that are out there on the market are pretty even. PlayStation 3 is supposed to be better in graphics however there are still no games that would show the full possibility of this console.

Xbox 360 will run most of the games that have been created for Xbox but not all of them. On the other hand PlayStation 3 will run all the games of PS and PS2. However, these possibilities will have only the North American and Japan versions of PS3 but not the European version.

Nintendo supports all the games made for earlier consoles: GameCube, NES, SNES and Nintendo 64. However the graphics quality of the games is not that good as it is in Xbox 360 and PS3 games.

Multimedia

First of all I would like to say that Nintendo does not support big movies playback or storage, so we will leave this console out of this part of comparison. Although you can view photos, MPEG and QuickTime movies, MP3 music files on this console; and all that only from SD storage.

The real battle comes between the two mega consoles: Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 here. Fist PS3 was the only console that supported full HD, 1080p, but now Microsoft will upgrade all the Xbox 360 consoles to the same HD. So that evens them out.

Blu-ray drive gives an advantage to Sony PlayStation 3 in storing videos and any files on the disc as they can store much more info and a better game will fit on a bigger Disc.
HD Media Center Extender of Xbox 360 beats PS3 in everything that they can offer. It can show live and recorded HDTV over your network, besides it can download movies and TV shows from the web. The other thing that gives Xbox 360 an advantage is a support of Apple's iPod and Sony PSP. It is the only console that supports video and audio streaming from PC.

Audio support: PS3 has a 5.1 Dolby Surround sound which is not bad until you hear that Xbox 360 has a Multi-channel system that supports up to 256 discrete channels. Wii on the other hand supports Dolby Pro-Logic II.

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REVIEW: Price of Nintendo Wii Slashed to US$150

 

Nintendo has dropped the price of its popular Wii game console by US$50 to $150 in anticipation of the company’s launch of the successor to the game system by next year.

Beginning May 15, the newly-priced Wii system will also come in either black or white with a Mario Kart Wii game and a Wii Wheel accessory, thus replacing the previously included Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort.

This was the second time Wii’s price has been cut since it was launched in 2006 at $250. A playable model of the next-gen console, which was announced by Nintendo last April, will be unveiled at the Electronics Entertainment Expo on June 2011.

The company has also announced that a number of Nintendo games will be sold at a suggested retail price of $20, including The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Animal Crossing: City Folk, Mario Super Sluggers, and Wii Sports.

Source: Boston Globe

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