Wii Gaming News

There have been a lot of mixed signals from Nintendo about whether fans should expect The Legend of Zelda Wii this year: First Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said the game was “not committed” to 2010, then Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said it was releasing in 2010, and then Reggie said on their “Nintendo Week” promotional show that it “had to be perfect” — the implication being if that means missing 2010, so be it.

And now, apparently, Zelda Wii is once again confirmed for 2010. On the latest episode of “Ninty News” (the British equivalent of “Nintendo Week”), they give Zelda a brief mention in a list of games “to get fired up about this year” (via Joystiq). The other games mentioned include Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid: Other M, and Epic Mickey.

So how much confidence can we have in this latest confirmation? Well, “Ninty News” is an official Nintendo promotional show, so you’d like to think they wouldn’t get their official Nintendo information wrong. But until someone a little higher up in the organization confirms it themselves, excuse us if we don’t get our hopes up…again.

In typically insane Steam weekend deal fashion, from now until the end of Sunday you can purchase a bundle of both Freedom Force games or a bundle of all X-Com games for an astoundingly low price of $2 even.

Both bundles highlight classic Irrational Games franchises, with the Freedom Force bundle containing the original game and its sequel, Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich, and the X-Com bundle containing Apocalypse, Enforcer, Interceptor, Terror from the Deep, and UFO Defense. And again, each bundle can be yours for less than the price of the national average for a gallon of gas.

And lastly, if you have ever, ever, ever so slightly deeper pockets, you can also get Tropico 3 for $13.60 this weekend as well. The deals end Monday, so get ‘em while you can.

Sony may be making a big push for 3D TVs — and, by extension, 3D gaming — but EA Sports president Peter Moore doesn’t yet seem convinced it’s the future — or not the immediate future, anyway. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz (via Eurogamer), Moore said that they currently have “nothing at all” in the works in terms of 3D gaming.

“No, no, no. I have a point of view and that’s about as much as we have,” Moore said. “[From] Howard Stringer down, Sony has made it a strategic imperative for the company. And when Sony does something of that nature then we as a company need to sit up and take notice. But believe me there’s nothing going on right now that would say I’m ready to demo a 3D sports game. Nothing at all.”

So what are Peter Moore and EA Sports almost ready to do? Demo what they have in store for Microsoft’s Project Natal and Sony’s motion controller. “We’re getting in sync with Sony’s motion controller and Project Natal with what Sony and Microsoft want to do with their publishing partners, so stay tuned for further information on that as we get closer to the date,” Moore said. “And as you can imagine, EA being EA we’re going to have our core intellectual property represented in some shape or fashion on those platforms.”

In what may be the best symbolic example yet of Nintendo’s current phase of prosperity, president Satoru Iwata announced that lifetime sales of the Wii have surpassed those of the NES, and the DS has outsold the Game Boy — making them, respectively, Nintendo’s best-selling home hardware of all time and best-selling hardware period (via Shacknews).

“Needless to say, these are just two milestones of a larger journey in our efforts to reach the ultimate goal of bringing one home console for every household and one handheld for everyone,” Iwata said, possibly while stroking a white Persian cat while seated in a swivel-chair in the belly of a submerged nuclear submarine.

The numbers break down to 67.45 million Wii units sold as of the end of December, compared to lifetime NES sales of 61.91 million units. The DS has sold 125.13 million units as of December, compared to lifetime Game Boy sales of 118.69 million.

Nintendo of Japan announced a new game from RPG developer Mistwalker today, titled The Last Story. The game is due out this year (in Japan, at least), for the Nintendo Wii. Unfortunately, other than those scant details and a game logo (above), we don’t know anything about the upcoming project. If you hadn’t noticed, the game’s title and logo style bears a striking resemblance to a certain other high-profile RPG series from company founder Hironobu Sakaguchi. We’re pretty sure that isn’t a coincidence.

Mistwalker has been enjoying a healthy relationship with Nintendo, co-developing various RPGs for the DS. This will be the developer’s first trek onto the Wii, so we’ll be curious to see how they make use of the motion controls. We’ll keep an eye out for more details, including U.S. release plans.

The classic Aliens vs. Predator Gold Edition is now available on Steam, but fans have had to forgo multiplayer until now. That changed today, with a brand new patch that brings back the original game’s online component.

The re-integrated multiplayer enables players to invite and join friends via the Steam Overlay, and will also use host migration. At the moment, dedicated servers are not supported or planned.

If you’re planning on jumping into some classic AvP, be warned — certain weapons like the Marine Smartgun are murder on the poor Xenomorphs. With luck, things will be a little more balanced when the new Aliens vs. Predator hits next month.

Electronic Arts is leaving no stone unturned in their quest to make the most of the upcoming World Cup. Hot on the heels of the announcement of 2010 FIFA World Cup, we have FIFA Online, which will be free-to-play this summer.

Players with a broadband Internet connection and a decent computer should be able to access the title, which will contain more than 30 licensed leagues and 500 clubs. As with the mainline FIFA games, players will be able to acquire players, upgrade skills and build up their dream team.

Like most “free” experiences, there is a micro-transaction angle. Users will be able to acquire unique apparel for their players for a little extra cash, and “additional content will be designed for the game based on feedback by fans.”

Sony is teaming up with 7/11 to bring out Slurpees based on the upcoming title, God of War 3. Kotaku reports that the drinks will be heading to 7/11 stores in February, and feature “ferocious blackberries and frosty limes” as the flavor. Blackberries don’t particularly ferocious to us, and this unfortunately beats out our suggested “blood and pained screams of your fallen enemies” flavor. But fans can look forward to more than just a syrup-based frozen drink, since the cups will contain codes that can be cashed in at Slurpee.com for God of War 3 downloadable content.

This is similar to the recent Dr. Pepper partnership with EA for DLC in its games, including Mass Effect 2. Drink manufacturers have made game-branded products before, but we’re betting they’ll see more success with these recent promotions that offer in-game rewards. As a move that encourages more purchasing with the promise of small, free in-game trinkets, it’s a win-win for soft drink companies and publishers alike.

[Image courtesy of Kotaku.]

Tech bloggers haven’t been shy about criticizing the iPad for its price, its feature set, or its thoroughly mockable name. But now Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is commenting on it in a recent New York Times report. “It was a bigger iPod Touch,” he said of the device. “There were no surprises for me.” His comments could be seen as run-of-the-mill corporate sniping, but his thoughts seem to echo most of the criticisms being levied against the iPad. After heavy speculation some expected Apple’s take on the tablet computer to pack a heavier punch.

Iwata also commented on the push for 3D gaming, which his competitor Sony has been advocating. “I have doubts whether people will be wearing glasses to play games at home,” he said. “How is that going to look to other people?” Finally, Iwata continued to distance himself from recent reports of a successor to the DS, as well as the persistent HD Wii rumors. “I question whether those features would be enough to get people to buy new machines,” he said. He did mention that Nintendo is working on new hardware, but didn’t give details.