Newsweek’s N’Gai Croal sat down with Sega of America President Simon Jeffery and Nintendo of America Vice President Perrin Kaplan to talk about the new Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games video game, set to arrive on the Wii and DS this holiday season. The monumental game will bring a cast of Mario and Sonic characters for the first time in a display of friendly competition. Here’s a brief excerpt.

You talked about the past rivalry between Sega and Nintendo. Perrin, did Sega have to apologize for its “Sega Does What Nintendon’t” advertising slogan in order for this deal to go through?

Perrin Kaplan: I’ve been quoted saying that there’s a thin line between love and hate. Now we’re in love. And so I think when you are in love, you are very forgiving. We worked as competitors, and we always had the attitude of kicking Sonic’s behind. Now we’re willing to be together.

Head on over to Newsweek’s LevelUp for the full article.

Newsweek: LevelUp

GameDaily BIZ’s James Brightman spoke with both Sega of America President Simon Jeffery and Nintendo of America Vice President of Marketing George Harrison in a sort of question and answer session yesterday concerning the new Mario & Sonic joint project. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games was announced yesterday as a new game for the Wii and DS, bringing Mario, Sonic, Luigi, Tails, and more to Beijing, China for the 2008 Olympic Games. Check out the excerpt below.

GameDaily BIZ: Yuji Naka is obviously involved with his own projects at Prope studio, but as the creator of Sonic was he consulted at all about this move? Does it have his blessing?

Simon Jeffery: Yuji Naka’s first games with Prope are being done in conjunction with Sega and he’s still a very good friend of the family. He hasn’t actually been actively involved in the development of this game, but he was fully aware of the discussions going up to it and it absolutely has his blessing.

Hit the link below for the full interview, which includes a brief mention about Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

GameDaily BIZ

Exclaim!’s Dino DiGiulio has written an article contemplating the idea that the Wii is the gateway console to a future of virtual reality as entertainment. It’s a concept that’s been played around with in the past, but perished at the hands of too many failed attempts. Now, though, the Wii brings at least the very beginnings of a working VR schema for companies to build upon in the future. Check out the excerpt below.

Now, almost ten years later, the underpowered underdog of videogames, the Nintendo Wii, has come to free us from the cave of harsh reality and take us into the virtual light. Like the way that perspective changed painting, the Wii’s controller, the Wiimote, represents a dramatic dimensional shift. The Wiimote is not simply thumbed like traditional controllers — it’s swung, spun and stabbed. It operates in space with gestures and movements that can be exact duplicates of their real world equivalent. All that videogames and computers have ever known is a two-axis world: up-down and left-right. The Wii has simply, radically introduced a third: forward-back.

Revolution?

Exclaim!

The announcement of the Xbox 360 Elite has brought about many interviews, trying to find the purpose for releasing yet another SKU. For some reason, the Wii keeps popping up in these interviews, including one with Platform Marketing Manager Michael Newey. Check out the excerpt:

XCN: The Xbox 360 Elite console is the most expensive Xbox 360 yet, but Nintendo’s Wii has been selling really well and it’s very cheap. Why are you introducing a more expensive console?

Mike Newey: The Nintendo Wii is great fun, but it’s a games console and very little else. Aside from standard def gaming it has very limited functionality compared to the Xbox 360. For a few pounds or Euros more than the Wii we offer high definition gaming with Xbox 360 Core, which you can always upgrade with a hard drive and other accessories if you want to.

I don’t know about all of you, but I like specialized hardware. I have very few all-in-one machines around aside from my computer, which these days I don’t really use for much more than updating this site, storing my TV recordings, and recording/mixing my own music recordings. I don’t have a need for HD at the time, and I’d probably stick with the Wii even if I did.

XboxWay International

While there might not be any half naked models running around, there appears to be a bunch of games at the E for All Expo! No way!

We posted on this a little while back, but who doesn’t love an official Nintendo press release?

“ENTERTAINMENT FOR ALL EXPO” (E FOR ALL) ANNOUNCES FLAGSHIP EXHIBITOR: NINTENDO OF AMERICA ANCHORS NEW CONSUMER SHOW IN LA

Framingham, MA - March 29, 2007 - IDG World Expo today announced that Nintendo of America has signed on as an anchor exhibitor for IDG World Expo’s newest event: Entertainment for Allâ„¢ Expo (E for Allâ„¢), scheduled for October 18-21, 2007, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Nintendo leads an A-list of game companies signing on for a show that is rapidly shaping up to be the premiere event in interactive entertainment.

Entertainment for All Expo (E for All) is a new event created for people who are passionate about video games and everything related. The Expo was launched in response to strong demand within the consumer audience for an opportunity to see and try new products before they reach store shelves. Event organizers anticipate its mid-October dates will launch an early and successful holiday shopping season for the industry.

“The E for All Expo supports Nintendo’s mission to reach as many types of consumers as possible to expand the world of video games to new audiences,” says George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. “Our Wii and Nintendo DS systems are all about gaming for the masses, and the E for All Expo will give consumers a chance to try out the hottest new Nintendo video games.”

“Nintendo’s early involvement in E for All demonstrates the importance of a broad consumer-focused event for this industry,” says Mary Dolaher, executive vice president of IDG World Expo. “E for All has been shaped from the ground up with all gamers in mind, and Nintendo has proven its commitment to embracing the spectrum of gamers, as we’ve seen with their launch of the Wii. In addition to being our flagship exhibitor, Nintendo of America Executive Vice President of Operations Don James has agreed to serve on our Exhibitor Advisory Board. I couldn’t ask for a more universally respected colleague in this new venture.”

To Los Angeles we go! Oh, wait, you mean it actually costs money to get out to LA?!? That’s unfortunate, but we will to save our pennies for this fantastic voyage of up to the minute coverage!

E for All Expo

So who’s excited for Animal Crossing, er, MySims! Alright, so that was a rhetorical question, but watch these videos anyways! Oh, and I have included a special non-gaming related video at the end to reward you for your efforts.

Our first video takes a look at the item building feature. I’m a sucker for total customization, and this video appears to whet my appetite for more. I mean, how many other games let you turn a standard wooden chair into a robot barbecue grill? Apparently not enough.

You know you want to see more!
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Australian insurance company, AAMI, won’t pay for the damaged caused by your kids wanting to play the Wii. Check this out:

…This infuriated Mr and Mrs Scott and he was subsequently grounded with all Wii priviledges taken away. Mr Scott carted the Wii up to the attic to lock it away from his son.

The boy in turn went through his ‘I hate my parents’ phase and plotted a plan to steal his Wii back and leave home. The 14 year old cut the ceiling away inside his wardrobe and gained access to his attic and most impotantly, his beloved Wii.

When this gaping wound was found in the house AAMI Insurance were called. Since realising the truth AAMI have declined to cover the costs of replacing the damaged part of the ceiling. Willful Damage by a resident is not covered in their policy.

Some kids go into their wardrobe to find Narnia. Others just want to find a Wii. Hit the link below for the full article!

Stuffed

Apparently, some people reported Nintendo’s various “Wii would like to play” commercials as being overly violent for TV broadcasting. They feel the connection between real life arm swinging and the death of an in-game character could ruin America’s youth.

Seven complainants found the “depiction of violence in the ad offensive and disturbing”. One viewer stated that it was reminiscent of recent videos released by hostage-takers in Iraq. An additional four complainants believed that the ad glorified violence and the use of weapons, and could encourage children to emulate such actions. Six complainants challenged the scheduling restrictions and said that the ad should not be shown when children were watching TV.

Now, sure, there’s the whole Bandura/Bobo Doll argument for this kind of stuff. But I don’t think any kid is going to be whacking Wii remote at Stalfos or aiming at space pirates. If they do mimic the commercials, it’s going to be because the game calls for it. Hit the link below for the full article.

VNU Net

If the GameCube remake of Resident Evil and the release of both Resident Evil 0 and Resident Evil 4 were any indication, Capcom wants to provide the best visual experience possible to those daring enough to play the games. Well, it seems that tradition will continue, as it was revealed Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles for the Wii will be presented in ED 480p progressive scan and 16:9 widescreen.

Capcom will likely push RE:UC’s graphics beyond anything we’ve seen on the Wii so far, given the series’ emphasis on creating a realistic atmosphere for the game. Imagine something that would make Resident Evil 0 and 4 look outdated, and something that may even rival Super Mario Galaxy. There’s no doubt that progressive scan and widescreen, coupled with the Wii’s unique methods of control, will help make Umbrella Chronicles one of the most immersive games in the series.
Joystiq

Remember the DJWiij guy? He was among the many who found a great use for the Wii remote. Well, now it appears that Nintendo contacted him and bought his domain. The DJ concept caught the eye of some execs at Nintendo, who felt the idea was in line with their desire for new, creative, and non-violent games. He’s been in talks with them about possibly creating a game based on the idea, one that might use the Mario cast or even all our Miis.

There aren’t many good music composition/sequencing/editing games other than Electroplankton that I’ve gotten a chance to try out, and something like this could be fun. Hopefully the talks lead to something that will show up on store shelves in the future. Hit the link below to read more about what happened, and possible game concepts that may have been brought up.

DJ WiiJ