Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime on the Xbox One and PS4’s launch lineups: ‘meh’

Nintendo's Reggie FilsAime on the Xbox One and PS4's launch lineups 'meh'

With the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 due to hit shelves across the world soon, it's not exactly surprising to hear the competition openly sound off on the incoming consoles. Especially when it's someone as outspoken as Nintendo of America's COO Reggie Fils-Aime. "It's all about the games. The competitive systems have announced their launch lineups. I'm allowed to say 'meh," Fils-Aime said in an interview with IGN. The Nintendo head added that he feels confident in the Wii U's title lineup, noting, "We've got Zelda. We've got Mario. We've got Donkey Kong. In addition to great titles like Pikmin 3 and Wonderful 101, I feel very good about our lineup, and I feel very good about the value proposition we're putting out there for the consumer."

Both the Xbox One and PS4 will have more than 20 titles available at launch, which is on par with what the Wii U's launch was back in November of last year. The only problem is Nintendo's flagship has been seeing less and less support from third-party developers, making the console a harder sell for gamers worldwide. Perhaps, Nintendo's hoping to turn the tide with its recent announcement that the Wii U's going to be a little cheaper starting September 21st, though only time will tell how successful that strategy turns out to be.

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Via: VG247

Source: IGN

Nintendo TVii gets TiVo support in January, hoping to support other DVRs ‘in the future’

Nintendo TVii gets TiVo support in January, hoping to support other DVRs 'in the future'

Nintendo TVii is scheduled for arrival on North American Wii U consoles at some point today, but it's lacking a few key features Nintendo promised when the service was first revealed back in September. Most notably, TiVo support was delayed until "early 2013," though Nintendo of America Director of Network Business Zach Fountain reveals a January launch in the first ever "Reggie Asks" (headlined by ... you guessed it, Nintendo of America president / interviewer Reggie Fils-Aime). Nintendo TVii's co-developer i.TV, represented in the interview by company head Brad Pelo, confirms our fear that TiVo DVRs will be the only supported DVR in the near future on the Wii U. Pelo thankfully adds, "In the future, of course, we hope to add support for other DVRs."

The group also discusses a main feature of TVii's second screen integration: "TV Tags." Beyond just viewing shows on the Wii U's GamePad controller, many shows (starting with "the top 100 shows in the US market," including sports, and evolving to integrate "what Nintendo TVii thinks is hot, what we think has momentum, and what we think our audience might find interesting") will feature social interaction and rich content (think: Miiverse-esque chat and stats for sports). Should TVii be as successful as Nintendo believes it will be, Pelo sees producers of popular television shows working with Nintendo to speak to their show's audience more directly. We're just hoping for a chance to talk about those crazy outfits Cee-Lo wears on The Voice in real time on the Wii U -- let's make it happen, people!

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Source: Nintendo of America

Here’s the company behind Nintendo TVii (spoilers: it’s not Nintendo)

Brad Pelo is suddenly in charge of a major Nintendo initiative for the Japanese company's next big console, the Wii U, despite not being an employee at Nintendo. Instead, Pelo is CEO of i.TV -- a "social television and second screen technology company" that's worked with everyone from Entertainment Weekly to Engadget parent company AOL -- and he's the man responsible for Nintendo TVii.

At least he's the man responsible for the company providing the software behind Nintendo TVii (the guy behind the guy, if you will). And his company brings more to the bargaining table than just software -- existing relationships with cable providers and TiVO in the US bolster what i.TV offers Nintendo in a major way. "For Nintendo TVii, there is a mutual benefit in existing relationships we have. Like TiVO for example -- we were the first to bring TiVO to the mobile platform. There's also the benefit of tests that we have done over the years with the cable companies, based on components of our platform," Pelo told Engadget.

But how did this all come about? He said it wasn't long after Nintendo's original Wii U E3 reveal. "The genesis of the experience you're seeing here was really when the Wii U was announced, and it was clear that this is the ideal second screen," Pelo explained. "Ideal," in Pelo's eyes, means a closed system with a "dedicated second screen." In so many words, while he acknowledges that tablets offered by other manufacturers are technically superior, they don't offer the same whole-system approach that Nintendo's Wii U is offering. "You might not think of it as the ideal hardware compared to an iPad if I really had a dedicated second screen. But it is in the living room, and it's persistent. It doesn't even really work outside of the living room -- it's attached to the main viewing service in the home," he explained, referencing the Wii U's tablet-style controller.

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Here's the company behind Nintendo TVii (spoilers: it's not Nintendo) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo sees next opportunity for Wii success in Latin America, Eastern Europe

"We will continue to sell the Wii," Nintendo America president and CEO Reggie Fils-Aime told investors today in a Q&A followup to the company's big Wii U event in New York City. "In the US, the Wii has sold about 40 million units. We believe that there continues to be an opportunity with the Wii." However, where Fils-Aime sees the most opportunity may not be where you expect. "I'm responsible for Canada, and Latin America as well," he said. "We think there's opportunity in both of those markets, especially Latin America." The Wii is currently offered by Nintendo in North America, Asia, Australia, and Europe, but not Latin America. The Wii ranges from $140 to $250, depending on what it comes with.

"You can reach price points, you can reach consumers that, candidly, we won't be able to reach with the Wii U. That's gonna continue to be an opportunity," he said. Fils-Aime and Nintendo also have their eyes on Eastern Europe. "On a global base, certainly there are markets in Eastern Europe. There are a number of other markets where if Wii has an attractive price point, it'll do well."

He also stood behind the console continuing to sell in its currently available markets alongside the Wii U after the new console launches this November. "We do believe there's still opportunity for the Wii, and we will continue to sell the Wii side-by-side for some period of time." Unsurprisingly, he didn't say exactly how long Nintendo is planning that support, nor would he say if we should expect a price drop for the aging console, but if we had to guess, we'd say "The Wii will drop in price" and "soon."

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Nintendo sees next opportunity for Wii success in Latin America, Eastern Europe originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Sep 2012 16:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Legend of Zelda prototype cartridge goes to auction: $150,000 proves your loyalty to Hyrule (video)

Legend of Zelda prototype cartridge

And you thought that Nintendo World Championships gold cartridge would make a nice start to the retirement fund. An eBay auction from tjcurtin1 is offering a prototype NES cartridge for the US release of The Legend of Zelda at a Buy It Now price of $150,000, or roughly ten times more than the typical final bid that Price Charting quotes for a typical NWC cart. While it looks like an unassuming yellow chunk of plastic, it's actually a Nintendo of America copy from February 23, 1987 -- half a year before the definitive action adventure reached the US market. The game still plays and can even save its game on the still functional, industry-first battery backup. Just remember that it's not necessarily going to reveal any design secrets from Shigeru Miyamoto or Takashi Tezuka: the seller warns that he can't see any practical differences between the early copy and the (also included) shipping version. Anyone well-heeled enough to buy the prototype is therefore going solely for the collector's value. But for those determined to be the coolest kid on any block about 25 years late, there's only one way to go.

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Legend of Zelda prototype cartridge goes to auction: $150,000 proves your loyalty to Hyrule (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Jul 2012 14:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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