Were you aware that there was some serious disruption at the core of big corporate gaming? Earlier today, the OUYA video game console project launched. Less than 24 hours later, they have raised over $2,000,000 (over double their goal) making it the eighth Kickstarter project to reach over a million bucks and gave it the biggest first day for a Kickstarter project ever. What kind of project could get this kind of cash this quickly? A pretty darn spectacular one, that’s what.
The OUYA (pronounced OOO-Yah) is a supremely powerful, $99 dollar, HD, hacker friendly, Android based video game console that handles exclusively free-to-play games and is built with indie developers in mind. The controller is shiny with the standard selection of buttons (two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, a system button) and has a very special touch pad in the center (a touch screen without the screen). I would love to talk more about it, but you are better off just reading the Kickstarter page and watching the project video yourself.
Let me just say though what a game changer this could be. What the OUYA people were looking for was a sign from the gamers, from the indie developers, that change was needed and change was due. There is no question that they got the answer they were looking for – and in just a few short hours. I look forward to seeing the dollar number at the end of this Kickstarter project. I’m sure execs from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft are currently paying close attention and shaking in their boots.
Sixteen months ago to the day, Kyle Gabler (2D Boy co-founder and creative force behind World of Goo), Kyle Gray (creator of Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure), andAllan Blomquist (Responsible for porting World of Goo to Wiiware) announced that they were teaming up to form the new indie studio Tomorrow Corporation.
Fast forward to present time and you will see them teasing their new game Little Inferno with the beautifully demented trailer above. Like World of Goo, you can just feel the John K. influenced insanity. And if you go onto the Little Inferno website, you will see that it’s also coming to the Wii U! The amount of brilliance that should ensue from this game might be painful to the general public and, you know, everyone else.
Club Nintendo announced today their Platinum and Gold rewards for 2012. The Platinum members exclusively get a set of three posters (the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, and Kid Icarus: Uprising) or a deck of Mario playing cards.
Gold members (or platinum members who don’t want the cards or posters) get the standard calendar which seems to be the new yearly gold level prize.
Alternatively, if you are a platinum or gold member who doesn’t want any of the physical prizes, you can instead choose to get a downloadable game. You can choose from Super Mario Kart or The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask from the Wii Virtual Console, Metroid II: Return of Samus from the 3DS Virtual Console, or Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! from DSiWare (only redeemable on a 3DS, though).
What do you think? Stay tuned for my… impressions.
UPDATE: Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe are also holding Nintendo Directs. NOA’s is tonight at 9:00 PT and will be focused on 3DS, DS, and Wii. Watch it live here.
Original: Good old Nintendo is treating us to more news again on Friday! This is a Japanese Nintendo Direct, but I’d still expect some news that could apply to the world. It’ll be airing at 8:00 P.M. PT on the 21st. You can watch it live (in Japanese) here.
My wish for the event? News about Animal Crossing 3DS! “No Animal Crossing” was actually trending on Twitter after their 3DS E3 Software Showcase. They had to have noticed that right?
This exchange is beyond awkward, and this poor fellow is probably going to be in serious trouble, but this is by far the best info about the Wii U’s launch we’ve gotten! Skip to 5:49 and watch how far language barriers and unfair questions will get you!
While Nintendo has plenty yet to reveal about the Wii U (price, release date (though it will be coming this holiday season), etc.), they did announce plenty about their new console at E3 2012. In this post I’ll cover everything I can gather about the Wii U announced at E3, including plenty of info regarding the controllers, web interaction, and console specs.
The GamePad
The most obvious feature of the Wii U is the new, unique GamePad controller. Watch the above video for all of it’s magical features.
In addition to all the features shown in the video, here are a few other noteworthy things:
The battery life of the GamePad is 3-5 hours depending on screen brightness. Charge time is 2 and 1/2 hours, though you can play while the GamePad is charging.
If a developer makes use of it, games can also be played off of the TV. The feature is called Off-Play TV and will most likely be tagged on boxes.
The Wii U will support up to two Wii U GamePad’s at a time, though console performance takes a hit – frame rate drops to 30 FPS.
In addition to the Wii U GamePad, the console will also support up to four of the new Wii U Pro Controller or Wii Remote (or Wii Remote Plus) controllers as well as Wii accessories like Nunchuks, Classic Controllers, and the Wii Balance Board.
The Console
The Wii U is a powerhouse. It looks to have better graphics than that of the Xbox 360 and PS3. Don’t believe me? Compare these shots from Batman: Arkham City. Click on the image and look really closely.
And here is the Wii U’s tech specs.
The Wii U will also have an eShop ready at launch where users will be able to download both download titles and retail titles and users will also be able to transfer their existing Wii Virtual Console game library to the Wii U.
The Miiverse
Nintendo is implementing a new online social network for use in the Wii U, 3DS, and future Nintendo consoles called the Miiverse. I covered it in my Nintendo Direct post (which has a lot more information about Miiverse than this post does), but there are a few new things Nintendo announced. There are a number of interesting features they are adding, both good and bad. Here are some of them.
There will be three levels of security for posting messages one of which is having actual people read them.
Because of this it will take about 30 minutes to have a message posted.
Friend codes still exist, but are being redone.
Users will be able to have a different level of contact with their friends than the general population.
You can have up to 12 accounts on each system.
Miiverse is tailored to the users featuring certain games for different users.
The Games
Nintendo has announced the full list of Wii U titles to release on or close to launch. Here is the full list below.
2K Sports – NBA 2K13 – Holiday
D3Publisher – Ben 10: Omniverse – Holiday
D3Publisher – Family Party: 30 Great Games (working title) – Holiday
D3Publisher – Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game – Holiday
In addition to all the games announced at E3 I’ve blogged about today, there was a TON of other games announced. I’m going to highlight a few noteworthy ones in this post.
Three of interest from Nintendo I haven’t mention in other posts:
Nintendo is publishing a new game with a working title of Project P-100. It looks quite strange and really fun. Game trailer.Read all about it here.
And lastly from Nintendo we have another working title game known as SiNG, an interactive musical performance game where you can use the Wii U Gamepad as a Lyrics sheet so the singer can face the audience. Game Trailer.Read all about it here.
While there are many interesting looking titles from third-parties, these two stood out for me:
Batman Arkham City Armored Edition uses the Wii U controller in incredible unique ways as it takes the form of the Batcomputer in this special Wii U version of the critically acclaimed game. Game trailer.Developer interview.Read all about it here.
Ubisoft announced the terrifying epic, ZombiU. This is waaaaaay too gory for my taste, but it’s getting a lot of press, and it uses the Wii U Gamepad in very unique ways. Game Trailer.Read all about it here.
There were many other games announced, but for the rest I’ll just tell you to go to e3.nintendo.com and look for yourself!
Lego City: Undercover, was talked about in detail at Nintendo’s E3 presentation today. I find it really interesting that it’s being published by Nintendo themselves. It looks like a really fun game! Read all about it here.
Yay! It’s been too long since the last WarioWare game! Nintendo revealed this one on their Nintendo E3 website after the presentation. It is also a Wii U launch window game. Read all about it here.
rumphy 