Activision has released its Shrek the Third video game for fans to enjoy, just days before the huge theatrical release of the third in the series.

The game puts the fate of Far Far Away land into gamers' hands as they take on the role of one of the movie's main characters. Featuring the all-star cast of Shrek, Donkey, Fiona, Puss-in-Boots and even Artie and Sleeping Beauty, the game takes players on a quest to stop the ever-evil Prince Charming.

Call me a big kid if you will, but this movie and its memorabilia really has my attention. Perhaps it's because of my 7-year-old, or maybe it's just Antonio's voice, either way, I'll be there this weekend to see the third installment. It's also possible, the game will make it's way home, too.

The game is available on multiple platforms, ranging from the Nintendo DS and the Game Boy Advance. It's also out for the Xbox 360, the Wii, the PS2 and more. Prices vary depending on the gaming system involved. It starts at $19.99 for the PC version and works its way up to the standard $49.99 fee for the next gen systems.

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Labels: activision, fiona, next-gen, Nintendo, shrek, video games, Wii

AGI and Sega have a quirky little program coming out for the Nitnendo DS that will have gamers talking – literally.

Kokoro Scan is voice recognition software that is designed to gauge a person's mood. The program can tell if users are happy, sad, stressed and so on. It can even be used to scan the voices of others in the area.

The software comes with a few games, including Kokoro Age, which will have players trying to control their moods while talking. Mini-games are also included.

It doesn't sound like much right now, but if Kokoro Scan follows the typical Nintendo pattern, there will be much more there than meets the eye. Quirky + Nintendo tends to equal addictive!

Wii Sports anyone?

Nods to Kotaku

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Labels: agi, kokoro, Nintendo, nintendo ds, wii sports

Anyone who thinks video games don't make a difference in the world should check out Time magazine's voting for the 100 Most Influential People list.

Right there in black and white, online and everything, is Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto – the creator of Super Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda and most recently the Wii. Granted, he hasn't made it yet, but the mere inclusion on the voting is a fairly big deal.

Time has his pros listed as those creations and his cons being: "His perfectionist tendencies often result in games being significantly delayed and, despite the Wii's gameplay innovation, its graphics are far behind the competition."

While I have to agree with the graphics part of the Wii being somewhat of a con, the perfectionism is exactly what makes Miyamoto so "influential." His games are trendsetters that cut across generational lines. Heck, I grew up playing Donkey Kong and Mario, and now my daughter's generation is enjoying the same brand of game play.

The Wii itself, poor graphics and all, is defining more casual game play in a way I can't remember a console ever having done before. With players ranging from small children to retirees in nursing homes, the Wii is absolutely influential.

What Miyamoto has managed to do is create something that appeals to entire families from the youngest member to the oldest, with a style of play that everyone can understand. In essence, he's given people of all ages a common ground to come together and enjoy a little bit of fun.

I personally think that's pretty darn influential.

Check out Time's listing here.

Nods to Gizmo Cafe.

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Labels: donkey kong, Nintendo, nintendo wii, shigeru miyamoto, Wii

When it came to video game conventions, the E3 used to be considered the Mack Daddy. Somewhat akin to Cannes for the movie industry, this elaborate showcase is now a shadow of its former self.

It was decided last year to shrink the event.

“Over the years, it has become clear that we need a more intimate program, including higher quality, more personal dialogue with the worldwide media, developers, retailers and other key industry audiences,” said Doug Lowenstein, ESA president at the time.

1UP has a full listing of this year's E3 exhibitors – all 33 of them. Last year's convention had more than 400, with all the pomp and circumstance of the Academy Awards.

Notables at this year's event, which has been moved to July from May, include Activision, Atari, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Capcom, Take-Two, Sony Online Entertainment and Vivendi Games. 1UP has a full listing, which is missing big names like NVIDIA and Blizzard along with the usual round up of indie creators, as 1UP points out.

I understand the idea behind the leaner, meaner conference. There's nothing wrong with getting back to the basics. But, still, it won't seem the same watching the action unfold without all the pomp, circumstance and unique moments.

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Labels: doug lowenstein, e3, microsoft, Nintendo, sony

With Sony's slickness and Microsoft's early start, few expected Nintendo to actually come out on top in the next-gen battle, but once again, the Wii has taken on all comers. The DS, too, is leading in sales.

According to Game Daily, March was a very good month for the game maker. "Despite widespread shortages for both systems, more than half a million buyers snapped up the portable Nintendo DS, and Wii was once again the top-selling new home video game console... Wii remains the fastest-selling new console in more than a decade, based on NPD sell-through information over the first five months of availability. So far this year, Nintendo has sold more video game systems than all other manufacturers combined."

"The message delivered by both Wii and Nintendo DS is the same one," said Reggie Fils-Aime, president, Nintendo of America has been quoted as saying. "Innovation is compelling both current gamers and new gamers to experience a new way to play. Nintendo is bringing gaming back to the masses."

While shortages of the Wii will likely remain, production has increased.
Although it was the underdog, Nintendo is clearly proving different can be quite good.

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Labels: ds, Nintendo, nintendo ds, nintendo wii, Wii, wii production

Nintendo of America’s donation of 100 consoles and copies of Wii Sports to YMCAs across the United States is not only a brilliant stroke of marketing genius, it’s also likely to work in its more altruistic mission.

It seems the YMCAs plan to use the consoles to “keep the energy of children alive and to encourage bonding with parents,” according to a piece on el33tonline.

“Consumers all over America are telling us the Wii helps them to stay active and fit and also gives them another reason to be together as a family,” says George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. “Wii has quickly become a part of America’s fitness plan, from bowling leagues for active seniors to kids and parents who sweat through Wii Sports pentathlons together.”

I’d have to say from personal experience, the YMCAs and Nintendo are on the right track with this one. The console has an amazing ability to bring parents, children and even grandparents together for a bit of computerized fun.

It might not be the most impressive console out there graphics wise, but it sure is a blast to play.

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Labels: Nintendo, nintendo wii, Wii, wii sports, ymca

UK PlayStation 3 and Wii owners can now listen to the radio on their high tech, next-gen consoles thanks to a deal with Virgin Radio. The music will soon come to the Xbox 360, too.

“It’s great for us to achieve another new media first and be the only UK radio station available on both of these massively popular games consoles,” said James Cridland, director of digital media, is quoted as saying by el33tonline.

Virgin’s saying “if it’s got a speaker on it, we want it to be playing Virgin Radio.”
To access the service, gamers need to open their Internet browsers on the PS3 or Wii and go to virginradio.co.uk/listen. Click on the “listen now” button to access the player designed for the next-gen systems.

This sounds like a solid play to ensure the next-gen consoles become total entertainment devices. Now, to just get this in North America!

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Labels: Nintendo, nintendo wii, ps3, sony, virgin radio

Nintendo Wii fans who have been dying to see what Resident Evil action on the little console that could might be like are soon to get their chance.

Capcom has announced that Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and Resident Evil 4 will soon creep onto the Wii gaming scene. The Resident Evil 4 version for the Wii will offer the PS2 content and also incorporate Wii’s nifty motion sensing abilities. This game is expected to appear sometime this summer.

The Umbrella Chronicles is a new addition for the franchise. It will reveal some of the back story behind the Umbrella Corporation’s fall and include some locations from the original Resident Evil games. There’s no set date for this installment, but you can be I’ll be in line to check it out.

If Capcom takes advantage of the Wii’s abilities well, the Resident Evil franchise might be the one that defines the console for me. With its great storylines, creepy settings and fun combat, this particular game seems to lend itself well to the console’s unusual abilities.

While the graphics won’t likely be anything to write home out, they’ve never been the strong point of Resident Evil any way. Cool, quirky, monster blasting fun has always been the draw for this series in my mind.

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Labels: capcom, Nintendo, nintendo wii, resident evil, Wii

The news isn’t surprising, but it’s still kind of a downer for Nintendo fans who thought they might have a chance to get lost in Oblivion.

Bethesda Softworks has officially said creating an Oblivion port on the console is “not possible.”

The word comes from Bethesda’s Peter Hines in an interview with Games Industry.biz. While Hines is enamored with the Wii, he says it just doesn’t have the right stuff for a game as visually demanding as Oblivion.

“It's something we'd like to do, but unfortunately it's not a very good fit with Oblivion. Oblivion is a very demanding game hardware-wise and in terms of graphics processing and raw horsepower. It's not something the Wii was designed to do. They decided not to make the focus on raw horsepower but on interface and so forth. It's a great console and many of us at Bethesda have one but I know that bringing Oblivion over is not possible - we'd have to do a whole new game."

While I’m a huge Wii fan, I have to agree with Hines. The console just isn’t made to support games as driven as Oblivion. Still, it would be nice to see what Bethesda could cook up in terms of a different Wii title. It sounds like that’s not out of the question either.

"It's something we've talked about, but I don't think you could say we're considering it. It's not in our immediate future - maybe something we'll look at somewhere down the road.”

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Labels: bethesda, Nintendo, oblivion, Wii

It’s the underdog console that’s taking the next-gen race by storm, and it seems the Wii is also starting to give Nintendo a bit of a supply problem. The company can’t keep up with the high demand.

Nintendo Europe’s Laurent Fischer has been quoted as saying the company is working to up its production abilities to keep gamers in Wiis.

“We are still struggling to deliver the right numbers of hardware to cope with demand," admitted Fischer. "We're planning to increase the production capacity but it's not something that can be done in a couple of days. We have to be patient."

The company is on schedule to meet the 6 million sales mark by the end of March, a figure that even surprises Nintendo. "It's astonishing to think that with six million we're not able to fulfil the initial demand," Fischer said.

Fischer went on to speak of the console’s own recruitment abilities, a concept I can attest to. At a recent party where the Wii was pulled out, two friends caved to the awesome power of Wii Sports and decided they “had to have” a Wii of their own.

I don’t believe they’ve managed to find one yet, so I’m betting news of the increased production plans will be more than welcomed by consumers itching to get a Wii bit of fun for themselves.

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Labels: Nintendo, Wii, wii production, wii sports, wii supply

There’s more to Mii than meets the eye.

At least that’s what the folks over at Marketing Vox are saying. It seems Nintendo is far from finished showing off everything Miis can do. Next on tap is the launch of a Mii channel later this year that will give users the ability to chat and rate each other’s Miis. The idea is to create a social network site that could possibly rival MySpace, but in this case it would be just for Wii users.

At least one industry analyst is calling the move a stroke of genius.

“Within a year, the Wii may be the most successful and valuable social-networking community on the Web,” says Richard Doherty of Envisioneering Group. "Nintendo is creating a framework for an open environment that will allow other developers to add value. Interesting third-party solutions could link fans of TV shows, gamers sharing tips, even home-schoolers."

Doherty may indeed be right. With Sony’s announcement of Home and the unbridled popularity of sites like MySpace and YouTube, why not a place Wii fans can call their own?

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Labels: home, mii, Nintendo, ps3, sony, Wii

Epic Games and Microsoft Games Studios are no doubt celebrating their big win today. Their Gears of War title took home three awards during the GDC’s Game Developers Choice Awards.

Gears won in the best game category and also for technology and visual arts. The trio of honors is a very big deal considering the number of new titles that hit the streets last year.

Speaking of recent releases, Nintendo didn’t go home empty handed either. Wii Sports garnered honors in the game design and innovation categories and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was honored for the writing behind the project.

“A Game Developers Choice Award is like no other award presented in our industry, as it is the only prize that gives the community the chance to appreciate and honor individual developers," Jamil Moledina, executive director of the Game Developers Conference, has been quoted as saying. "By celebrating our visionaries by name, we give the audience and the public at large a chance to give credit where credit is due."

Indeed, with winners nominated by the creators themselves, this was very likely one difficult group to please.

A full listing of honors can be found by visiting Nintendo Revolution.

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Labels: epic games, gears of war, microsoft, Nintendo, Wii, wii sports, zelda

Mum seems to be the word for Nintendo executives at this years GDC. Spong is reporting some of the company’s heavy hitters will be in attendance, but they won’t be talking much.

The reason for the silence is an upcoming stock deal that will have the Japanese government selling off much of its stock in the company that's responsible for the DS and the Wii. The government is expected to sell 1.987 million shares that will be priced soon. Indeed, it looks like Nintendo has made an offer on the stocks.

Information about upcoming games and developments that might be released at the conference could impact the pricing, so Spong says gamers can expect to hear very little out of Shigeru Miyamoto, Eiji Aonuma, Koji Kondo, Reggie Fils-Aime and Perrin Kaplin.

There’s no source listed by Spong, but the news site has been very reliable with information in the past. And, news on the Nintendo front has been very slow as of late, so this sounds more than plausible.

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Labels: gdc, Nintendo, nintendo ds, reggie fils-aime, shigeru miyamoto, Wii

Konami’s Lunar Knights is one fun little game of mystery, puzzles and adventure. Gamers take on the roles of two adventurers out to save their world from evil that’s closing in. Lucian and Aaron are guided by the sun and moon as they work out a way to save all that they know and love.

With 3D shooting stages, dynamic weather and all kinds of powers and weapons, Lunar Knights is a blast on the Nintendo DS. That blast can now be yours to have.

Thanks to Igniq’s relationship with The EPN, we have a brand new copy to give away to gamers in North America. The lucky winner will be drawn from those who can answer this question correctly:

Who is the father of The Sims?

Send your answer to: contest@igniq.com. Be sure to put “Lunar Knights Giveaway” in the subject line.

The winner will be announced on March 31. Good luck!

Remember, the contest's open only to those in North America. The ESRB rating on Lunar Knights is E, 10+. Special thanks to The EPN and Konami for the giveaway prize!

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Labels: konami, lunar knights, Nintendo, nintendo ds

Nintendo fans looking for some more Sims action won’t have to wait too much longer to try their hands at MySims. Electronic Arts is in the process of developing the game for both the Wii and the Nintendo DS.

According to Digital Home Pipeline, the title will have gamers “creating their own toy-like Sim that reflects their personal style and attitudes whether its pig-tails and baseball caps or dreadlocks and Mohawks.”

Players will moved into a disorganized town where they can redo everything to make it truly their own. Along the way, they’ll meet a host of characters, such as the Mayor, Rosalyn P. Marshall, and Buddy, a lazy hotel bellhop.

Sounds like this will be one fun entry in the Sims series.

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Labels: electronic arts, mysims, Nintendo, nintendo ds, sims, Wii

If an interview with Microsoft's Peter Moore is any indication, the Xbox 360 might become the Wii-60 in the near future.

Moore not only makes it sound like the 360 will soon have a new, lighter lease on gaming, but he also is gracious enough to give credit where it’s due.

"From a first-party point of view, it's not just about E-rated games, it's going to be about the experience that, quite frankly, Nintendo has done a tremendous job in capturing, in bringing back fun - if you will - to the gaming platforms,” Moore has been quoted as saying.

"But we've got a few tricks up our sleeve as well to be able to do that. It's not something that we're going to be shy about, and it's not something that we're not painfully aware of that needs to be changed by this holiday. That has been the strategy all along, and we'll be making some more announcements in the coming month or two."

CVG thinks this means a motion-sensing controller is indeed on its way. And, Moore’s comments certainly give that idea credence. "It's actually not games. It's more experiential than that. And again, since the day I saw Iwata-san pull the Nunchuk controller out from under his podium a few years ago at TGS, I've always realized that was the right thing for Nintendo ... to be successful in this next generation.”

It sounds like some great things could be on the horizon for the Xbox 360. Here’s hoping Microsoft just adds on the Wii sort of fun without losing sight of the fact it already has a console a lot of serious gamers love.

Now, if they manage to tap into the fun Wii offers while keeping the intense action titles on the drawing board and the graphics high, Microsoft will be on to something big.

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Labels: microsoft, Nintendo, Wii, xbox 360

The financial moguls at Merrill Lynch are banking on Nintendo’s Wii as being the console to beat. They’re saying that by 2011, about 30 percent of all American households will own a Wii and about a third of Japanese households will, too.

The predictions come from Lynch analyst Yoshiyuki Kinoshita on the heels of some major performance by the little console that could.

Whether they’ll pan out to be true or not remains to be seen, but the console is certainly outperforming expectations.

The folks at Crunch Gear seem think there’s not a snowball’s change in Hades this will be the case, considering the average U.S. household income, which is under $47,000.

“These people don’t have the money for a Nintendo Wii + some games + a broadband internet connection - they need their money for real expenses like a mortgage payment and cases of Keystone Light,” they write, adding the potential for bias in the prediction.

I beg to differ. The “average” American family I know happens to own at least one gaming console if not more. Wii is fairly economical in the grand scheme of things and some of its games happen to be pretty darn good for family members of all ages.

Considering its price tag of about $350-$400 for the console and a game or so, compared to soccer, cheerleading, baseball and so on, and the Wii doesn’t seem like that bad of a deal.

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Labels: merrill lynch, next-gen console, Nintendo, Wii

The Wii has a lot to be proud of. It’s little. It’s spunky. It’s affordable. And, now, it’s the fastest-selling console on the market.

According to Absolute Gadget, the console boasted 435,503 units sold in the U.S. during the month of January alone. This, per the NPD Group, made the Wii’s sales 70 percent higher than any other new game system released during the last decade during its first full January.

This is a pretty amazing little tid bit considering the availability issues, but not entirely surprising overall considering the console’s playability and affordability.

As if the Wii’s success weren’t enough, the Nitnendo DS once again took on all comers to hold the title of being the best-selling portable device. It sold almost 240,000 units during January.

Nintendo sounds pretty proud: “The continuing success of Wii and DS demonstrates that the public has embraced Nintendo's philosophy of entertaining current gamers in new ways, and expanding gaming for the masses."

The success of both systems gives some serious credence to the idea that Nintendo founded its Wii on: Affordability + Fun = Success.

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Labels: Nintendo, nintendo ds, videogames, Wii

It seems I’m not the only one who is in love with the Wii. The game play is great. The social aspects of the console are fantastic. And, now it seems, Nintendo's customer service is also top notch.

A blogging mother from Washington has found out the console is not only a blast to play with her son, but also comes with some serious customer service backing.

It seems the lady’s Wii has some issues with its optical drive. Not wanting to upset her son, she held out until the last minute to contact Nintendo about a warranty repair.

When the customer service rep found out the woman lived near the Nintendo of America campus in Washington, she recommended they forgo shipping and had her bring the console in. In less than a half-hour, the service team had fully reloaded a brand new Wii with all her fmaily’s information and sent her on her way. The warranty, by the way, was changed to reflect the date of her picking up the new console.

“That was the most awesome customer service experience I ever, ever had,” wrote Saska.

As a newly converted Wii fan, I’m sure glad to hear it! All too often, we only hear and read the bad things about, well, anything.

Also, thank you to the Igniq.com readers who have been writing in with game suggestions since reading my Wii report! They are appreciated.

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Labels: customer service, Nintendo, video games, Wii

After much stalking, checking stores and calling around, my husband finally nabbed a Wii. He brought it home a few weeks ago, along with three add on titles: Billy and Mandy, Red Steel and Zelda.

If the truth be told, I resisted writing a review on the console for the last few weeks to give a fair assessment of it. There are some things that are very disappointing about the Wii. There are also some things, I’ve come to find, that are very surprising about it.

First off, the Wii is wee, very wee. It’s about the teeniest console I’ve ever seen. As an owner of both an Xbox 360 and a PlayStation 3, the diminutive size is one of the first things that struck me. It’s so tiny, it’s downright cute.

When it first came home, the games we tried playing were the three add ons listed. I have to say, as long-time gamer, the graphics aren’t hot, but Nintendo never promised they would be.

Sadly, we chose our add on titles poorly and that sort of tainted my first impressions. Billy and Mandy is kind of clunky. Red Steel’s characters look like paper cut out dolls. Zelda starts out way too slow for my taste.

I was really disappointed. I have to admit I felt like we’d taken about $500 and lit it on fire. The 7-year-old didn’t even seem to enjoy playing much.

If I’d written a review on that day, it would be very different than what I’m about to say.

The truth is what we should have done was instantly start playing Wii Sports. As soon as we popped in this title, all the beauty of the Wii came to light. The remote really shines with this game and the entire experience is just down right fun. (Note: it is VITAL to move furniture back and use the tether. I can now speak to this personally!)

While it’s true Nintendo put affordability and fun over graphics as its priority, it works well in this title. The visuals on Wii Sports are nothing to write home about, but the playability is.

Here’s what really makes the console special – everyone in the family likes it. This is the first game we’ve come across that the 7-year-old has as much fun playing as we do. She’s even managed to school us in bowling a few times.

Since having the console, we’ve had a few impromptu Wii Sports parties. Everyone has raved about the Wii. A roomful of hardcore Halo gamers had as much fun playing as my mother-in-law did. Go figure!

Wii Sports might just be to the 2000s what the family board game was to past generations.

The Wii might not have the power of the PlayStation 3 or the Xbox 360, but it has something that’s all it’s own. When a title that was made with all its features in mind is played, the Wii is simply a blast. It’s a social console. There’s no eye candy. There’s no bells and whistles, really. What there is, however, is magic in a box. Three generations coming together to play a video game and actually enjoying it. I’d say that’s pretty magical.

As more Wii-designed titles come online, I’m expecting some pretty big things out of the wee Wii.

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Labels: Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Wii, xbox 360