Whoops. Where did September go? School is in full swing for most and the holiday lineup is almost about to reek havoc on our lives. I guess that just about sums it up.

Oh wait, I lied. October means one thing and one thing only: Playoffs. Sure, my White Sox are nowhere to be seen (remember folks, there has only been one other team that has won a World Series since the Sox, so unless you’re a Cardinals fan, your team hasn’t done anything), but my other team sure made it in. And no, it’s not, not, not the Cubs.

It’s the Phillies. Those fabulous Phillies. It was a tight race with the Mets, but they finally pulled it off in grand fashion today. The excitement doesn’t stop there though, since the Padres and Rockies will be facing off tomorrow to determine who gets the final playoff spot in the National League. So let me get this straight, the Diamondbacks, Phillies, Cubs, and either the Padres or Rockies have made the playoffs? At the start of the season, the world would have laughed at you if you said those teams would be making the playoffs…

As for the World Series: it will come down to the Phillies and Yankees, with the Phillies taking it all in 6 games. Who do you think will win it all this year?

The Tanooki
The Tanooki Mailbag #7

News & Information
Mario Galaxy Pre-Order bonus confirmed
Still waiting for Reggie’s surprise on the last day
Kingdom Hearts dev. working on 3 other titles
Australians get Big Brain Academy bundle
If Nintendo sees you as a threat, you won’t see another day
Larger Wii shipments keep pace with launch of Halo 3
Nintendo holding conference in Japan on October 10

Screens, Scans, and Video
Get comfy: Sixty new screens from NiGHTS
Epic Final Fantasy Tactics A2 trailer
Nodame Cantabile brings conducting to the Wii
Advance Wars 2 screens

Society & Culture
Where do you play the Wii?
Blow an NES cart, suck an N64 controller?

A bunch of screenshots from the recently announced sequel to Advance Wars DS for your viewing pleasure. The game has taken a more mature theme this time around without losing any of the style of the previous games. Without video there’s no way to be absolutely sure but the animations look like they’ve been updated as well. In that first screen it looks like the tanks are making a more impressive entrance to a battle animation. Either way, this game will be a good one to keep an eye on.

Continue Reading »

Our favorite game company holding surprise conferences isn’t anything new. However, while these unexpected showings can gather a ton of hype as soon as they’re found out about, they can either be really big or big letdowns.

Nintendo will be some kind of conference on October 10. You can expect them to talk about some business and market data, and how they’re now the number one new console in the world. They’ll also probably talk a little bit about the upcoming Japanese lineup and their release dates, including Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Wii Fit, and Mario Kart Wii.

Who knows, we might even get that now-late surprise. Be sure to be around here next week when the conference happens!

GoNintendo

While two of the three versions of Halo 3 took the top two spots in Amazon.com’s best sellers list as of last Thursday, a restock of Nintendo’s Wii console bumped the little console to the No. 3 position. As a result, it was able to hold off sales of the Halo 3: Legendary Edition and increased Xbox 360 sales.

With many seeing Halo 3 as the biggest threat from Nintendo’s competition and with Nintendo coming out of the week unfazed, it’s looking like fans backing the company should get ready for an exciting holiday season. Bring on Galaxy and Brawl.

Punch Jump
via Codename Revolution

Dave Perry, distinguished game developer, talked with GamesIndustry about several industry aspects, including Nintendo’s current situation with the Wii from a developer’s standpoint.

What do you think about the development situation on the Wii, in that a lot of publishers are jumping in late to the party and they’ve also got to compete with Nintendo’s first-party titles?

That’s the bottom line. Do your homework. You have to allow for that. You can’t assume it is going to be like the other platforms, because you are going to have Nintendo taking most of the sales. And if Nintendo really sees you as a threat, they will take the moves to wipe you out. They are not going to let you win.

Meaning, if you sell your game and you are charging USD 60 or 50, or whatever price you choose, they will sell their games at USD 39.99 and they will kick your ass. So, the bottom line is, whatever you thought your business plan was, they can shake your world at a moment’s notice and they have a track record of doing that. So I would be very concerned with wanting to bet the farm on a Nintendo platform.

….Hopefully, everyone heeded the Nintendo message. Easy to play is very important in this industry. Does anyone get that yet? You can go back to Apple, who taught us the same thing. Time after time after time they put out a new iPod with the same controls. Why? Because adding ten more buttons, which would have been very tempting and very easy to do, would have made it more complex. Keeping that system, that round dial that does everything magically, is part of the proof that making things easier sells.At conferences for a while, before the Wii, I talked about the fact that, if one of the companies took away all the buttons and left us back with the A and B buttons and a d-pad, would the industry die? The answer is no. I believe we would find a way. Every game would still work.

I’m now very interested to see the response next time around from Microsoft and Sony. Do they just do an arms race move, or do they work on controls too? [The Wii] was very disruptive to our industry, and we need that. That’s what keeps us all very healthy.

You can read the rest of the interview with him below.

GamesIndustry.biz

Forget the fact that you could buy a Moller conducting baton for $30, stick your favorite Mark Camphouse recording in your CD player, and conduct along. You’ll probably be able to buy Wii Music for something like $40 when it eventually comes out. Or if it comes out… Not to worry, though, Namco Bandai has you covered!

Nodame Cantabile: Dream Orchestra is a new conducting sim based on the Japanese manga of the same name. Unlike the Nodame Cantabile DS game that had players tap along to notated rhythms as if playing musical instruments, Dream Orchestra puts players on the podium to conduct at least 50 different songs in the process of turning a career dream into reality.

Nodame Cantabile: Dream Orchestra will be available in Japan on December 27. You can view some screens and character art after the break.

Continue Reading »

Who says gamers are lazy? Good to know the N64 controller still has some use after the analog stick starts to get sloppy.

Kotaku

Nintendo of Australia announced that they will be offering a bundle which includes Big Brain Academy and a Wii Remote for $80 (Australian Dollars.) Now that’s a very good deal considering the Wiimotes by themselves go for $70 (Australian Dollars.)

This is a similar deal to the Wii Play bundle that was offered a while back. It would be nice to have another deal like this come around in N.A. because Wii Remotes are pretty expensive. How are you guys/girls doing with your respective Wiimote situation?

Kotaku

Siliconera’s Spencer did a little digging around and found out that the Kingdom Hearts developer, h.a.n.d. is working on two other DS games and Music game for the Wii. The only game that we have solid information about is one of the DS games. The game is a restaurant guide and part of the Square-Enix style series.

The other two are probably unannounced because there is no name to go along with them. One is the music game for the Wii, and the other DS game is supposedly a 3-D Adventure game.

Siliconera
via QJ.net

Awesome trailer with tons of gorgeous environments shown off. Also, Vaan and Penolo from Final Fantasy XII make an appearance, and we get introduced to some of the main characters. Plus, you get an idea of why I like summon monsters so much.

Cubed3