It seems that some cloning glitch has been found in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. Several GameFAQs members are still working out the details, including the discoverer Nathan_Winters. While it seems a bit complicated at the moment, it’s good to be warned early that some Pokémon you may be trading for in the future may be clones.

While Pokémon: The First Movie proved that “the circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant,” and that “it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are,” there exists the possibility that you may no longer have an “original” Dialga or Palkia, if you traded for it. While there are those that argue cloned Pokémon are legit due to an exploitation of a game glitch, the fact is that they were created by a glitch. At this point in time, you can’t have 100% certainty that a trade involving a cloned Pokémon won’t negatively affect your game.

Just a heads up. It’s begun.

GameFAQs

Most of you probably know about the insanely lucrative and trendy online shirt competition company called Threadless. Their headquarters is only a few steps from where I live, and they have some pretty decent shirts, like this brand new piece of Mario goodness.

In other fashion related news, keep your eye open for a new Toasty Tees (my shirt company) sometime this summer. I’ll give you a hint as to what to expect: Nintendo (mostly) themed shirts. A good hint? Thought so!

Threadless

“The Wii Remote was created to play on the Wii system only.”
– Anka Dolecki, spokeswoman for Nintendo.

It’s no secret that the Wii remote is one piece of fancy technology, and its use of Bluetooth makes it open to a wide range of potential applications. At-home hackers and company R&D alike are looking for new and creative uses for the Wii remote in practical situations, as demonstrated in the Wall Street Journal article linked below.

Yet, Nintendo discourages the practice, saying it should only be used in conjunction with the Wii console. I’ve even heard rumors of Nintendo Europe threatening legal action for being caught misusing the Wii remote. Why? Well, they could say that the Wii remote was meant to enjoy the Wii, or that you might be taking the Wii remote from others who really want to play. However, there’s always the potential risk of the Wii remote being used in a way it wasn’t designed for that could end up being dangerous or life-threatening, and just because the wand has Nintendo’s name on it could mean trouble for the company.

Wall Street Journal Online

Fresh from the new EGM magazine come rumors that Hudson has gone ahead with production of a new Bonk game for the Wii. The company has expressed interest in possibly reviving the character, and with the growing popularity of Bonk’s Adventure on the Wii’s Virtual Console service, it seems likely that Hudson has more than enough reason to bring the character back. The question is…are they?

Also rumored is the production of another Kingdom Hearts game has gone in the direction of a spinoff. Of course, one could consider the game possibility of EGM’s 2007 April Fools Joke as a plausible spinoff, seeing as the rumor suggests the KH spinoff would appear on a “hearty console.” Will EGM’s April Fool’s prank actually come true? Or could we be in store for something bigger and better? Or is it not even for the Wii? Maybe the DS?

Codename Revolution

Official Nintendo press release below:

WII-KLY UPDATE: THREE NEW CLASSIC GAMES ANNOUNCED FOR WII SHOP CHANNEL
April 30, 2007

Vampires and ninjas and Shockmen, oh my! This week the Wii Shop Channel takes a trip into the world of ghoulish creatures, mystical curses and professorial abductions. See if you can remember which of these games sparked the whip-carrying craze of the late-’80s! For the best retro gaming around, it’s time to pay a visit to the red-hot Wiiâ„¢ video game system’s Wii Shop Channel.

The three new classic games go live at 9 a.m. Pacific time. Nintendo adds new games to the channel every Monday. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Pointsâ„¢ to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week’s new games are:

Castlevania® (NES®, 1 player, 500 Wii Points): Step into the shadows of the deadliest dwelling on Earth. You’ve arrived at Castlevania, and you’re here on business: to destroy the curse of the Evil Count, once and for all. Make your way through six monstrous floors filled with bats, ghosts, zombies and every kind of ghoulish creature you can imagine. Use the legendary whip Vampire Killer and a host of deadly weapons to battle your way to Dracula’s chamber and the ultimate duel of good vs. evil.

The Legend of the Mystical Ninja™ (Super NES®, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points): In The Legend of The Mystical Ninja, take control of Kid Ying and Dr. Yang in an action adventure through feudal Japan. A curse has stricken the village of Horo-Horo, and its beloved princess has vanished. Together Kid Ying, a daring young mystical ninja, and Dr. Yang, master of the invincible spirit transformation, must overcome 10 levels of the Dragonbeast to save Princess Yuki. Each stage contains intense 3-D and 2-D zones where the duo must perform dozens of attack moves and solve magical problems and puzzles before advancing. Battle humorous enemies like the Carp Meister, who stuns victims with poisonous fighting fish, Tanaka-U-Out, a knockout artist who wallops opponents with a bone-crushing hammer, and the Sumo Tag Team, kings of the unbeatable belly-buster crunch. Collect coins to buy new equipment and to receive clues, spend some time playing minigames in the arcade or try your luck and increase your fortune at the Quiz House and Horse Races.

Shockman (TurboGrafx16, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points): It’s been two years since Arnold and Sonya were made into Shockmen. A message from the professor to return to their bodies has them head to his laboratory, but they are ambushed by a mysterious enemy along the way. After narrowly defeating the enemy, they catch a TV news flash announcing the Ryo Empire invasion. They find that the professor has been abducted and set out to rescue him. Shockman is a side-view action shooter that has eight stages, including Action Stages, where you jump and use special techniques, and side-scrolling Shooting Stages. This game expands on the well-paced story from the previous version and contains cooperative elements like shared life and a powerful Team Shockbeam that can be used during two-player simultaneous play.

For more information about Wii, please visit wii.com.

According to Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, the Game Boy Advance saw monthly shipments of 2.3 million units when the handheld was in its prime. The GBA has sold roughly 80 million units since its introduction nearly 6 years ago. In comparison, Nintendo DS production has recently been increased to 2.5 million units shipping each month. The red hot handheld has sold over 40 million systems in just over 2 years since its November 2004 launch.

On to Metroid Prime 3, those worried about the lack of a well-controlled first-person game for the Wii should be able to calm down a little bit. Iwata says, “Metroid Prime is not out yet, so this is just the opinion of testers, but it’s being rated close to the keyboard and mouse control that’s the standard for PC games.”

As for the possibility of Nintendo properties showing up on cell phones (aside from the Super Mario Bros. ringtone I know many of you have), or even on any other platform other than their own game systems, Nintendo had this to say: “By offering software to other companies, we could probably do good in terms of short term sales, but we’d lose Nintendo’s strong point.” Of course, Iwata acknowledged that the market may suddenly change in the future, so Nintendo is going to stay prepared, as always, and consider other possibilities behind the scenes.

AMN

While many people praise the Wii for taking video games in a new direction and arguably saving the industry from becoming stale, how many realized that its success could be bad for the rest of the industry in the short run? Many developers, for example, put lots of money into games and betting on the success of the PlayStation 3. Now that the PS3 has yet to gain a foothold this generation and the Wii has runaway with tremendous sales, those developers are now spending more money just to shift their resources over.

Head on over to PCWorld for some links to an analysis looking at this negative side effect. It’s another perspective to Nintendo’s success, and one to consider if we eventually hope for a win-win situation for both Nintendo and their third party partners.

PCWorld Blog

In those financial meetings, Satoru Iwata revealed that over 3.3 million Virtual Console titles have been downloaded since launch. An impressive number indeed, however not so much when taken into context.

It was reported in late January that 1.5 million VC games were purchased and downloaded in the first two months, a rate of roughly .75mil a month. This new announcement puts the last three months at 1.8 million VC downloads, roughly .60mil a month. Is there a reason the number of downloads are dropping? Were new users at launch just downloading for the hell of downloading? Were releases like Super Mario World, Ocarina of Time, and Star Fox 64 not enough to get Wii owners excited? Does Nintendo need to create a new Wii interface that better informs casual Wii owners as to each week’s new games?

1UP.com

At the recent financial meetings Nintendo has been holding for the fiscal year ending March 2007, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata briefly commented on the fact that Ken Kutaragi, designer of the SNES sound chip and inventor of the PlayStation, PS2, PSP, and PS3, has recently announced his retirement/resignation from Sony in the coming weeks. According to reports, Iwata responded that he would “would love to see Kutaragi join up with Nintendo.”

Of course, Kutaragi will continue to hold an honorary chairman position at Sony, which Iwata noted would make it hard for Ken to cross over if he wanted. However, Kutaragi has stated that his future ventures would be independent of Sony, so who knows what may happen.

QJ.net

I used to love tangrams. In fact, I still love them, as evident by last year’s desk calendar, so it’s no surprise that this Mario mosaic reminds me of a tangram puzzle on steroids. All 1502 pieces and such…

Call me impressed. Very impressed.

Flickr