lowspec

LevelUp has the dirt on WiiWare, the now officially dated (May 12th!) downloadable game channel for the Wii. N’Gai’s also got an interview with Frontier’s David Braben, who provides some details about his upcoming game for the service, LostWinds:

The main character is a guy called Toku, a young boy who’s discovered this wind spirit that’s trapped in a stone. You control both Toku using the device called the nunchuck. He’s actually quite vulnerable, in terms of where he can go–also there are things in the world that are threatening–but you also control the wind spirit that he’s able to release which is called Enril. And the wind spirit is controlled by the Wiimote.

By moving the Wiimote around, in different shapes, you can create gentle breezes of wind or strong gusts, or even by twisting it around, little sort of water sticks. The game overall is designed to be a really sort of graceful, beautiful experience where you’re using these essentially two separate characters in combination, and that brings us all sorts of possibilities in the way the game works, which makes it feel very fresh.

That actually sounds very cool.

From the Nintendo press release, their vision of WiiWare:

Through WiiWare, Nintendo hopes to offer developers a virtual laboratory that serves as a breeding ground for new games, which encourages great ideas that creators always wanted to develop. The combination of low development barriers and unique game experiences found only on Wii should enable developers to try new ideas with lower risk in a quicker, more creative and affordable way. Meanwhile Wii owners can download a multitude of cool new games from different genres, including some that are unprecedented, which can be purchased from home at a dynamic price range.

Though it lacks the democratized aspects that Micorosft claims their XNA Creators Content will have, WiiWare still sounds very cool. I think I’d spend a lot more time with the Wii if it had an ever-growing library of modern casual games, specifically designed to compliment its unique hardware.

N’Gai also pushed Nintendo on the subject of demos for the new services’ games. It doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.

It’s Game Developers Conference time again, and in this day and age of instantaneous online coverage there’s sure to be more convention-related content produced this week than I’ll be able to process. There’s a lot of intriguing stuff on tap, and with E3 a whole five months away, it’ll be a long while before we get another close look at where the industry’s headed. If only I could ditch my day job for the week and follow the convention more closely.

For the HD-DVD format.

…

With Toshiba officially conceding defeat, it’s over.

For Sony, who with the PS3 now have the most desirable video playback device on the market, this is huge. The 360’s lower price, online features, and exclusives won’t be enough anymore.

If Microsoft wants to stay competitive, a substantial 360 price cut better be on the way. Or a new 360 that matches the PS3’s hardware features, to include a Blu-Ray drive, built-in wireless, and a sizable hard drive, for a lower price.

I just have to chronicle this mess for future reference.

Via GamePolitics, we have a transcript (and embedded video) of Fox News’ ridiculously inaccurate portrayal of Mass Effect, wherein Geoff Keighley takes purported “expert” Cooper Lawrence to task in admirable fashion. The subsequent fallout includes a mass trashing of Lawrence’s recent book at Amazon and, eventually, contrite statements on her part over at The New York Times, of all places. EA asks Fox for a correction and Bioware’s Ray Muzyka says the dev team is “really hurt” by the poorly researched smear job.

My take? I can’t say I’m surprised by Fox’s actions, but I’m still disgusted. Keighley’s direct response and EA’s and Bioware’s complaints give me some hope.

Several weeks back I visited a local children’s hospital to get a better handle on just how Child’s Play makes a difference in kids’ lives. It was awesome. I wrote about it for The Escapist. Here’s an excerpt:

Some kids arrive by ambulance. Others by helicopter. Some will leave the same day. Others will stay for weeks. Whether they’re in the burn unit, the trauma center, the oncology department or the rehabilitation unit, the children at Legacy Emanuel Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon, all have one thing in common: They’d rather be somewhere else.

Jen Usinger is one of five certified Child Life specialists at Legacy Emanuel, dedicated to helping young patients cope with the pain, anxiety and boredom that inevitably accompany their hospital stays. “It’s a kid’s job to play and have fun,” she says, “and we try to incorporate that into their hospital experience.” Penny Arcade’s Child’s Play charity helps them do just that.

You can read the full article here.

Kyle at VGM Watch recently reported that EGM editor-in-chief Dan “Shoe” Hsu has an editorial in his publication’s latest issue wherein he fingers a handful of particularly manipulative publishers. Hsu reprinted the article at his 1up blog. Here’s an excerpt:

For the time being, you’ll get little, late, or no coverage of the following products: anything Mortal Kombat (they didn’t like our reviews), anything from Sony’s sports department (ditto), and now, anything from Ubisoft (it seems our coverage of Assassin’s Creed was the last straw). So in case you’re wondering why you’re seeing so little of these games in our magazines and on our websites, now you know.

What do we do now? Nothing. We won’t treat these products or companies any differently, and we’ll just cover them to the best of our own abilities, with or without their support. Because, after all, we’re writing for you, the reader — not them.

This isn’t the first time Hsu’s editorialized about the unpleasantries that go on between press and publishers, but as far as I know it’s the first time he’s named names. And if you listen to 1up network podcasts on a regular basis, particularly the Games For Windows podcast, you’ve heard their editors bemoaning their relationship with the industry on a regular basis.

Hsu’s public response to this bullying is laudable, and if his colleagues in the gaming press want to maintain credibility, they should follow suit. I’m finding it easier and easier to write off large press outlets that don’t offer this kind of transparency, especially in the wake of Russ Pitts’ Escapist piece that draws some disconcerting lines between the movie critic shenanigans of one Peter Hammond and the recent developments at GameSpot.