DPAD have a post up on their website claiming that they managed to squeeze a few details about a Wii price drop in '07 out of a talkative Toys-R-Us manager. Here is an extract:
"As he would soon explain, Nintendo will be "relaunching" the Wii console sometime before or at the beginning of Spring 2007. The launch, which is said to see many different colors for the Wii system (as seen at E3), will also be accompanied by a hefty price drop from $250 to $200. For those that believe such a drop would be too radical, keep in mind Miyamoto's own statements that the original plan was to develop a system under $100. Also note that it is undetermined if the "better system" statement includes technical upgrades to the Wii, as recent rumors have suggested."
The PS3 launches in Europe sometime in March. A properly-timed Wii price drop would definitely put a dent in Sony's sales at launch. Also, the Wii would have a considerable number of games in its library by then, and would look more appealing from that perspective. There's also that little matter of the numerous colors we saw the Wii in, back at E3...
DIRECT URL: http://dpad.gotfrag.com (via DESTRUCTOID)
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Finally, Nintendo responded to the ever-growing number of wiimote wrist strap breakages. Nintendo is offering to replace the original version of the wiimote wrist straps with a newer and thicker version.
"Because Wii consoles shipped starting in early December already utilized the newer version of the strap, you will need to determine which version of the strap you have before ordering a replacement," said Nintendo. You can see the difference between the new and the old strap in the above image.
Nintendo will start shipment of the new straps around 21 December and it takes 5 to 9 day to receive your new strap. Head over to the Nintendo Wii Remote Wrist Strap Replacement Request Page and submit the form to get your free replacement.
(This applies to only North American customers, because all the Wii shipped in the UK and Australia come with the new improved wrist strap.)
REQUEST FORM: http://www.nintendo.com
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We saw yesterday, the manufacturing costs of the PS3 and the Xbox 360, and its clear that both Sony and Microsoft are loosing on the actual hardware.
But, thats not the case with Nintendo's next-gen console. A Japanese site broke down the Wii components by price and discovered that it apparently, only costs Nintendo about $158 to make a Wii. That’s not including the controllers though. Here’s the breakdown of the components:
- Graphic tip/chip 29.60
- CPU 13.00
- DRAM 7.80
- Optical disk drive 31.00
- Power supply 11.30
- Production cost 19.50
- Cost total 158.30
DIRECT URL: http://www.neogaf.com (via YouNEWB.com)
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Rumour has it that, by the time the PS3 launches in PAL regions, it may be only the, more expensive, 60G models that will be available!
According to 1up.com, European Playstation fans hoping to pick up a cheaper 20gig version of the next generation console may be fresh out of luck. Phil Harrison said that gamers shouldn’t expect many (if any) 20gig models of the console on launch.
Also hinted at the "meet-and-greet", is the availability of the first substantial firmware upgrade on PlayStation 3 which is supposed to include many new features such as:
- Auto resumption of downloads from the Playstation Store
- XMB multi-tasking
- Access of Playstation 3 content via a PSP connected to the internet
- New XMB display options
- New options for the photo album
- New animations when playing back music
European gamers who are worried that their PlayStation Network IDs have already been taken by the rest of the world can also rest easy in knowing that Sony will allow users to register their names in the next few weeks.
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Research firm iSuppli said its recent PlayStation 3 (PS3) teardown analysis shows that the PS3 is an engineering
masterpiece that sets a new high mark for computing price/performance – even when considering it is more expensive than its nearest rival, the Xbox 360 from Microsoft.
"With the PS3, you are getting the performance of a supercomputer at the price of an entry-level PC," said Andrew Rassweiler, teardown services manager and senior analyst for iSuppli.
According to the teardown analysis, yhe combined materials and manufacturing cost of the PS3 is US$805.85 for the model equipped with a 20GB hard disk drive (HDD), and US$840.35 for the 60GB HDD version. This total doesn’t include additional costs for elements including the controller, cables and packaging.
At these costs, Sony is taking a considerable loss on each PS3 sold. Materials and manufacturing costs for the 20GB model exceed the suggested retail price of US$499 by a total of $306.85. For the 60GB version, costs exceed the US$599 price by US$241.35.
With Sony taking a smaller loss on the higher-end model, iSuppli said it's not a surprise the company is steering customers to the 60Gbyte version.
Head over to the DigiTimes website for a more detailed analysis and costs of each of the individual components used in the PS3.
ARTICLE URL: http://www.digitimes.com
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The debate over which is the more powerful next-gen games console has been raging for over a year, but in the last few weeks we’ve finally been able to pore over some first-hand evidence. The Call of Duty 3 conversions to Xbox 360 and PS3 are more closely comparable, perhaps, than many fanboys on either side would have predicted. More interesting is the unspoken rivalry between Gears of War and Resistance: Fall of Man - two showboating titles with similar themes and environments.
One thing has become clear. Totting up specs isn’t going to help us choose a winner. On paper, PS3 has more raw processing grunt than Xbox 360, but at the moment - with second generation titles under their belts - developers seem to be extracting more performance out of Xbox 360. That’s natural considering their greater experience with the platform. The question is, how much further can Xbox go?
Frankly, the only views that matter in this debate are those of programmers who have experience with next-gen hardware. So this week Guardian.co.uk spoke to Richard Hackett a head of technology at Blitz Games about his experiences with both machines. He feels that CELL has an ace up its sleeve and it’s not something you might have predicted…
ARTICLE URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk
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Here is a good news for all you Sony fanboys out there! Sony has reassured that they are on track to ship 1 million consoles by the end of this year, since all their manufacturing problems have been fixed.
In an official statement, Sony's Communications boss David Karraker said -
"While initial day-one launch shipment goals weren't achievable due to early manufacturing issues, those problems have been resolved and we do remain focused on having one million PS3s in the pipeline by December 31, 2006.
We will continue to utilise airfreight delivery for PlayStation 3 to assure a steady stream of systems for North American consumers through the end of the year."
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Nintendo has announced the complete December release schedule for Virtual Console, revealing five games that hadn't previously been unveiled. The Turbo Grafx games Alien Crush, Military Madness and R-Type will be coming to Nintendo's retro download service this month and they'll be joined by Super Castlevania 4 and Super Probotector for the SNES.
Of these, the 1991 platform adventure Super Castlevania 4 and the rock-hard shooter R-Type are the biggest names but both Super Probotector and Alien Crush are worth downloading. Super Probotector (called Contra in the US) is a brilliant side-scrolling shooter and Alien Crush is an amazingly addictive alien pinball game. Military Madness was a Turbo Grafx launch game and while the turn-based strategy game didn't sell particularly well it was critically acclaimed.
Here is the full list of retro retro games that will become available for download on every Friday throughout December. You can download these using Wii Points which can be purchased online or by using a Wii Points Card, available in the shops...
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This is great news for Wii owners who are cursing Nintendo for limiting video playback capabilities on the Wii. Though you can play videos through the Wii's Photo Channel in Motion JPEG format, the latest and widespread formats like DivX, XviD or MPEG are not supported.
Now there is a solution in the form of a software called Wii Video 9, coming from the developers of the much acclaimed PSP Video 9, which lets you convert almost all popular video formats into the Motion JPEG format.
There is a catch though. Since the video file is being converted into MJPEG format, the size of the file increases drastically (usually around 6 times the original!). So, if you’re planning to watch a video on your Wii you’re probably going to need atleast a 1GB SD card.
Anyways, this is not a perfect solution for the problem. All we can do is to wait for Nintendo to come up with a firmware update that allows users to play DivX and XviD formats as well.
DIRECT URL: http://www.redkawa.com
DOWNLOAD URL: http://rapidshare.com
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Shortages of Nintendo Wii consoles around Europe have left some gamers who pre-ordered the new machine frustrated. Nintendo, which has already launched the machine in the US and Japan, said it expected to sell out of Wiis on the first day of sales.
More than four million Wiis will be shipped globally this year, and 50,000 were sold in the UK in 12 hours. More than 1,200 Wiis have gone on sale on online auction site eBay in the UK within hours of the launch. The highest price for a console so far has been £500.
David Yarnton, general manager, Nintendo UK, said: "We are doing everything we can do to meet demand throughout Christmas and the New Year period."
A spokesman for Woolworths said there were problems getting stock from Nintendo.
The UK chain has said it expects to fulfil all pre-orders for the machine by next Tuesday or Wednesday.
He said: "Demand has far outstripped supply and we are delighted to have been able to secure a significant amount of consoles for our customers before Christmas."
Woolworths were not able to confirm if they would receive any more stock once pre-orders had been met.
Currys, PC World and Dixons have said they will deal with outstanding pre-orders in "strict chronological order".
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