Amazon Launches Instant Video For Nintendo Wii

via techcrunch.com

If you own a Wii, you were probably a little bummed out to hear that Amazon would be serving up Instant Video to the Wii U and not to your older console.

But fret no longer, as Amazon has just announced that its library of streaming video content is now available to Wii owners.

Amazon’s Instant Video library is home to over 145,000 titles, and if you’re a Prime member you have automatic access to over 33,000 titles right off the bat.

Other features you may have grown accustomed to on Amazon’s media streaming platform are also present, including Whispersync, which lets users pick up right where they left off on another device. Like, say, a Kindle Fire.

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Nintendo's Wii U Outperforming the Original Wii Because it Costs More

via allthingsd.com

Nintendo’s Wii U has managed to outperform the launch of its original Wii, at least in terms of revenue, but only because it costs more.

In the U.S., Nintendo sold 460,000 Wii U devices in December and more than 890,000 since it launched in mid-November, according to NPD, which tracks monthly sales figures for the videogame industry.

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Behind Nintendo's Development of the Wii U Videogame Console

via blogs.wsj.com

Nintendo Co.'s Wii U, the company’s first new home videogame machine in six years, will finally reach the hands of consumers on Sunday when the new console goes on sale in the U.S.

The three-year development process of the Wii U offers a glimpse into how the Japanese videogame manufacturer comes up with its new consoles.

Around 2009, the company’s top brass started looking into the idea of creating a game machine that offered a “second screen” controller. The managers saw it as a smart solution to overcome some of what it felt were the shortcomings of the Wii — mainly that the Wii was a secondary accessory to the television and not a primary device on its own.

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Here Are The 23 Nintendo Wii U Launch Titles

via techcrunch.com

The Nintendo Wii U launches on November 18 with the support of 23 games. Nintendo stated previously that there would be 50 available before March 31, so, relatively so, the Wii U is launching with a strong amount of games including New Super Mario Bros U, Call of Duty: Black Ops II and, yes, Nintendo Land, the game Nintendo hopes will be the Wii Sports of its new console (it won’t).

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Nintendo Wii U Pro Controller hands-on (video)

via engadget.com

Although we managed to get our mitts on the Wii U and updated GamePad here at E3 following Nintendo's keynote, the recently unveiled Pro Controller turned out to be harder to find. We were thankfully able to visit the company's amusement park massive booth on the show floor where we discovered the wireless peripheral, along with a GamePad, tethered to a demo of the upcoming title, Rayman Legends. Join us past the break for our initial impressions in text and on camera.

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Nintendo Announces The Wii U At E3

via techcrunch.com

It was just yesterday that Nintendo unveiled the Wii U Gamepad, but today is the big announcement. Everybody welcome the Wii U.

The new console, coupled with the Gamepad, will change gaming entirely, according to Nintendo: “at its core, Wii U changes gaming, how you interact with your gaming friends, and it changes the way you enjoy your TV.”

That means Netflix and Hulu and Amazon Video and YouTube, along with the brand new form of gaming brought about by the marriage of the Wii U and the Gamepad.

The Gamepad sports a pressure-sensitive touchscreen along with traditional buttons and directional pad. Nintendo also packed an NFC reader/writer and a gyroscope/accelerometer.

The Wii U will support two different Gamepads.

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New Nintendo console in June? It’s about time

via techi.com

Kotaku is reporting that Nintendo might be dialing up the awesome (finally) in preparation to debut a new console this year at E3 – a console that will apparently leapfrog both the Xbox 360 and PS3 in performance. And that wouldn’t be half bad – while the Wii was a smash hit upon its debut, who cares about motion controlled gaming now? You? If it’s you, I’m sorry.

The Wii is sadly on its last legs; third party development is weak, motion control is dead(ish)… hell, the Wii doesn’t even have a hard drive or HD Out. These things do not a viable console make, and if the rumours are true, Nintendo’s about to get serious. If they can revolutionize gaming as they’ve done so many times before (Gamecube notwithstanding), it should be a very exciting June.

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Nintendo confirms Wii U to launch by year end

via venturebeat.com

Nintendo will launch its Wii U video game console — the successor to the wildly successful but aging Nintendo Wii — in the U.S. and other key markets in time for the holiday shopping season later this year.

Nintendo chief executive Satoru Iwata told reporters in Japan that the Wii U would be launched by the end of the year in the U.S., Europe, Australia and Japan, according to Reuters.

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A new rumor points to the potential power of the Wii U

via digitaltrends.com

A new rumor lists the specs of the Wii U, possibly offering us the first look at the architecture of Nintendo’s next-gen console (with one possible typo).

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Will next Xbox launch in 2012 to take on Wii U?

via news.cnet.com

Citing sources, the U.K.'s Edge Online says that Microsoft has already provided major studios with "target boxes" that feature the same specifications as the Xbox 360's successor, and should hand over the first developer kits by the end of December. Based on that timetable, the publication's sources say, Microsoft should be able to get the new console on store shelves by the end of 2012.

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Game sales way up, Wii way down in October

via news.cnet.com

U.S. software sales in October likely hit $690 million, representing a 14 percent gain over the $605 million game makers generated last year, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter has reported in a research note to investors today. Perhaps most important, he said that October should mark the first month of double-digit year-over-year sales growth since April.

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Nintendo loses nearly $1 billion as Wii sales plummets

via news.cnet.com

During the six-month period ended September 30, Nintendo saw its financial performance decline significantly, the company reported in a financial earnings release today.

Nintendo generated 215.7 billion yen ($2.84 billion) in revenue during the six-month period, representing a whopping 40.6 percent decline compared to the same period last year. Even more concerning, Nintendo's net loss hit $926 million, down significantly from the $26 million it lost in the six-month period ended September 30, 2010.

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Nintendo Bringing Hulu Plus To 3DS And Wii, 3DS Preps For 3D Video Recording

via hothardware.com

Nintendo may be struggling to move a serious amount of 3DS handhelds, but this just might help. Hulu Plus is coming to the 3DS and Wii. According to a new release from the company, 3DS and Wii owners will soon have the ability to access even more of their favorite TV shows and movies: the Hulu Plus service will be added to both systems by the end of the year. Nintendo is also announcing new features being added to the Nintendo 3DS system, including the ability to record 3D videos, new musical artists coming to Nintendo Video and a new animated 3D video from DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. Additionally, Nintendo 3DS owners will soon see four inventive downloadable Nintendo-published games and applications delivered to the Nintendo eShop, a one-stop shop for entertainment options.

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Watch a Wii game played on an Android tablet with an Xbox 360 controller

via digitaltrends.com

YouTube user shows how to combine Nintendo Wii games with an Android tablet and an Xbox 360 controller.

It’s always interesting to see someone making creative use of otherwise disparate technology and teasing the possibilities of an interconnected future. This time around, it’s a mash-up of Nintendo, Android, and Microsoft technology all coming together to form a pretty cool little gaming station

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Rumor - Wii U going through production woes, developers are 'lost'

via okaygeek.com

What is key to the success of any new hardware in the gaming industry? Software — i.e. games! Developers are the heart and soul to any new console hitting the market, since what is a shiny new controller supposed to do without any games to interact with? Well, word on the street is that Nintendo’s upcoming Wii U is hitting “development hell” and developers themselves are feeling lost with only 1 year to go before the system is due to release. — More after the break!

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