Wii Games: Summer 2010 Champions Revealed
Nintendo launched the inaugural Wii Games: Summer this year to allow players of all ages and families to pit their Wii skills against one another in order to find the best America has to offer. 200 competitors met in Redondo Beach, California on September 3 to face of in Wii Sports Resort, Wii Fit Plus, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and Mario Kart Wii.
The events came to a close on September 5 with a closing ceremony to celebrate all the victors in their respective categories.
- Family: The Crawford family of St. Louis, Mo.
- Adult: TJ H. (25) of St. John Ind. and Chris M. (26) of Highland, Ind.
- Super Adult: Bill (66) and Bonnie (58) M. of Westlake Village, Calif.
- Teen: Frank N. (16) of Wheeling Ill. and Zach H. (16) of Belvidere Ill.
- Adult and Child: Doug (43) and Connor (12) H. of St. Louis, Mo.
- Adult and Teen: Mike (25) and Sam (16) K. of Winnetka, Ill.
Prizes included various Nintendo products, Wii Remote themed trophies, and the winning family received a free cruise. Also, US Olympic gymnast and gold medal recipient Shawn Johnson was on hand to kick off the event and crown the winners.
Source: Nintendo
Nintendo Weekly Downloadables
WiiWare, Virtual Console, and DSiWare have all received new offerings this week in what is a farely motley crew of titles. This week’s batch of downloadable goodies includes a western themed adventure game, an old school fighter, a classic puzzler, a farming sim, and aguitar teaching tool.
WiiWare
- Fenimore Fillmore “The Westerner”
Virtual Console
- Samurai Showdown III (NEOGEO)
DSiWare
- Simply Mahjong
- My Exotic Farm
- Music on: Acoustic Guitar
Source: Nintendo
Square Enix Comments on Pros and Cons of Western Developers
The CESA Developers Conference was recently held in Yokohama, Japan, and Square Enix employees Yosuke Shiowaka and Yuki Matsuzawa addressed attendees on some interesting they have learned during their recent work on an unannounced collaboration with a western developer.
The first topic of discussion was on the importance of believability in the western market. On the one hand it helps make the game worlds more consistent and detailed, but it also is the reason for the overabundance of gruff and buff space marines in modern western games. After all, such a character would make a more believable, galaxy saving hero than a giant sword wielding protagonist who spends more time on gelling his hair into spikes than he spends working out in the gym.
The pair also noticed that western approach to development is much more democratic, with the whole team working towards consensus and contributing ideas while the Japanese process is dominated by the people in charge who make all the major decisions while everyone else simply waits for orders. As a result of this difference, western production is generally smoother and more consistent and helps result in the more believable final product.
Source: 1up