From the Bottom Up: November 2006

FtBU Chats with NoC MM Farjad Iravani (UPDATE)

At a recent press event on Toronto I was able to sit down for a few minutes with Nintendo of Canada’s marketing manager Farjad Iravani to talk about Nintendo and their new console and how they think the Wii will be received by Canadians.

From the Bottom Up: How does Nintendo plan to build a community online?

Farjad Iravani: Well gamers can head over to www.nintendo.com and take advantage of our forums or sign up for news updates via email. The Wii’s virtual console will also allow messaging between virtual console owners. We are currently in the early stages of our online plan so do not have anything definite but there is the potential for growth a little further down the road.

FtBU: Friend codes or friends list what direction do you see Nintendo heading in?

FI: We are doing some things but I don’t want to speculate on specifics.

FtBU: Fair enough. The Nintendo Wii and WiiConnect24 will require users to provide personal information in order to use some aspects of the service. What is Nintendo doing to protect the personal information of their customers?

FI: We are taking “every step possible to obviously make sure when you purchase anything on the virtual console’s shopping channel your information is kept private” You can read more about privacy rules in the Wii manual or on the system itself. In term of games or your information that sits on the system we are taking precautions that for example when you send your unit back to Nintendo for replacement or maintenance we are taking special precautions so that A you get the games you have paid for and B that any information you provided on the system isn’t just sitting in a landfill somewhere.

FtBU: What kind of functionality can we see between the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS?

FI: They are capable of communicating with each other wirelessly but at this stage there are no plans for such functionality.

FtBU: Nintendo previously said that all virtual console game would be playable with the GameCube controller but now according to the Wii’s operation manual that is not the case and people will need to buy the “Classic Controller” to play some virtual console games. Care to comment?

FI: Well it’s kind of complex and what controller you use will depend on the game some games will use the GameCube controller others will use the Classic controller while some will use the Wii controller but it will be made clear when you purchase a game which controller it will require.

FtBU: Any idea of future Wii peripherals similar to Ubisoft’s steering wheel?

FI: We are very focused on the launch at the moment and we have no plans for peripherals over and above what has already been announced. Things are wide open we have licensing agreement with companies like Ubisoft to develop 3rd party peripherals like their steering wheel.

FtBU: There are rumours of a second version of the Wii coming out in late 2007 which will allow DVD playback?

FI: There will be a Wii option released in the 2nd half of 2007 that will be DVD capable it will be a second model in addition to the classic “Canadians” will have a chance at that point to buy the current model or the model that supports DVDs there will be a price difference but it will be available in the 2nd half of 2007.

FtBU: Do you think that Nintendo should focus on DVD playback or continue to focus on providing good gameplay experiences?

FI: We believe that for gaming to be successful that gaming quotient has to be great fun and people will play it. We do realise that some portion of Canadians that want to play the system and have the DVD functionality and that option will be available for them but we wouldn’t want to make everyone buy a DVD player. I would also like to point out that it will be a standard DVD player not the HD or BluRay standard.

FtBU: How do you see the Nintendo Wii competing in Canada against the other consoles that have come on the market specifically the PS3 and Xbox360?

FI: I think we will get a much wider acceptance with the Wii it has something for everyone whether you’re a hardcore experienced gamer you can spend days lost in Zelda or you could be the five year old that plays tennis all day. I think it does appeal to a much much bigger market and the numbers will be much more available and it will be in many many more homes this holiday season.

Well there you have it the future of the Wii in Canada. Thanks to Mr. Iravani for talking to us and Cohn and Wolfe for setting up the interview.

UPDATE: found link to press release from Sonic Solutions regarding Wii DVD playback

Buyer Beware

I was recently referred to a website by a reader. He said "If anyone is in need of Wii before the holidays, The GoodyMart has a few left." So I went to Goody Mart to check it out and was absolutely shocked at what I found.

Stay away from this website these List prices are very wrong and you should never pay more than 300 $$ for a Nintendo Wii.

Best of FtBU

For those of you who are new readers (in gaming we call you noobs) I thought I might do a little best of From the Bottom Up. Here are a few of my favorite posts.

End of the Atari Age posted 05/30/2006
End of Killer Aps? posted 06/05/2006
Time Well Spent posted 06/05/2006
Run for your Life! It's Doug Lowenstein! posted 06/07/2006
[Unnamed Konami Title] - Preoder Today! posted 06/15/2006
Mario Gets Canned! posted 06/29/2006
Rock Out With Nintendo Metal posted 07/27/2006
Bye Bye CGW Hello GfWM posted 08/03/2006
Halo Wars vs. Halogen posted 09/28/2006

and the infamous 4 part series

Why IGN Sucks posted 08/16/2006

Enjoy the rehash and if you like anything at all bookmark us or why not subscribe? Till next time happy gaming and reading.

!WARNING! Do Not Take Your Better Half Game Hunting!

Well the consumerist season is upon us. People spend more money between now and Christmas than they do the rest of the year but you already knew that.

Of course what every gamer wants for Christmas is one of the latest consoles be it a Wii, PS3, 360 or even one of the handhelds like the Nintendo DS or PSP. There is a slight problem with this list of gaming jewels, two members are extremely hard to come by at the moment.

My best friend Brad was out "Wii Hunting" on Saturday, running around all over town checking store after store looking for a console by the time he met up with me it was about 3:30 PM. He told me he had been looking all day with no luck. I then looked past him at his fiance who stood there with her arms crossed looking tired and none too happy with my buddy.

You see Brad made a crucial mistake that most gamers make. When women go shoe shopping they often go to many different stores these stores however are often IN THE SAME MALL. Game stores however are often limited to one, two if it's a big mall. So game hunting often requires a lot of driving and disappointment.

I can't see why any women would want to participate in a hunt for a product that will most likely be used by the dominant gamer in the house. So whether it's for a rare game or one of the hard to find consoles you are better off taking along your video game obsessed journalist friend than the women who can banish you to the couch.

FtBU Preview Rainbow Six: Vegas

I recently had a chance to try out the next iteration of the Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six series at the Best Buy Games Summit in Toronto.

Take the crazy shooting of KillSwitch mix it with the gameplay of Battlefield 2 and throw in a bunch of squad based tactics and you'll come pretty close to the Rainbow Six: Vegas formula. Although my time was limited and I had only played one Rainbow Six game before, it looked visually impressive on the Xbox 360 so I decided to try it out and was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to just pick up and play and be a somewhat effective squad leader. I was most impressed by the cover system working in conjunction with the always great UbiSoft camera system. Progressing forward and then diving for cover never looked so natural. It was also responsive and allowed for really sneaky or run and gun play. However if you take a run at it and ignore the cover completely you'll be quickly met with an early demise. The AI is sharp and I mean like broken glass sharp. They'll pick your squad moving under cover from over 100 yards away and open fire when the time is just right.

I have high hopes for this game. The appeal is great and almost every FPS fan will find something they like about this one Rainbow Six: Vegas hits store shelves on November 22nd

You can get more info at http://www.rainbowsixgame.com

FtBU's first STAR!!!

I'm going to embarrass Brill for a moment I'd like to congratulate him on his recent publishing. Brill wrote a review of Mortal Kombat Armageddon which has been posted on www.elecplay.com you can view it at http://www.elecplay.com/articles_review.php?article=11332

What Wii Think of the Wii

Bad puns aside, with our hands-on with the Wii yesterday, We've compiled a short review of the console, and whether or not it is worth your hard-earned money: http://bottomtotopreviews.blogspot.com is the location. Be warned: there may be some more bad puns inside.

Here Wii Go!

It was a chilly November morning as Brill and I walked along the shore of lake Ontario.

Destination: Ontario Place, Nintendo Wii pre-launch event
Time: 10:00am
Mission: To play, experience ask about Nintendo's new entry into the console market and to bring our findings back to you.

As Brill and I walked up to the entrance my red scarf waving behind me in the wind I realized that not only did we stand on the forefront of innovation in gameplay but we also stood on the brink of our first press event. Nervous we took a deep breath and delved into a world we had only read about.

As we entered we were greeted by a statue of every-one's favorite "Hero of Time" Link. After signing in we looked around just to see what we would be playing. I soon realized that I was in the same room as other journalists I have only seen on TV including Electric Playground's Victor Lucas. But you guys don't care about that, get to the games. First there was brief intro speech by Nintendo of Canada GM Ron Bertram his speech consisted of the companies goals with the Wii and the future of the console. After Ron's short speech it was time to play. Brill and I got some hands on experience with games like Wii Sports, Call of Duty 3, SpongeBob SquarePants: TCFKK, ExciteTruck, and of course Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. (More in depth impressions of these game will be coming later)

After we tried out some games came the crown jewel of our day which was an interview with NoC Marketing Manager Farjad Iravani which I will be posting later. All in all a successful day and we here at FtBU are now even MORE excited about the console's launch which happens this Sunday. Now this event was one of the first in a busy week here in Toronto. The PS3 launches this Thursday and the Wii on Sunday but this weekend there is also a "Games Summit" planned which will take place at Young and Dundas Square in downtown Toronto so keep your eyes on the feed because we are just getting started.

New Review up - FINISH HIM!

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon was unleashed upon the masses a couple of weeks ago, and we have a review of it! Hop on over to http://bottomtotopreviews.blogspot.com and check it out!

Wii Preview Event in Toronto, Ont

Greetings all. I heard the other day that Nintendo Canada was having a preview event for the Wii at Ontario Place in Toronto to so I headed over to www.nintendo.ca What I was told turned out to be true but it required me to register so I submitted my email address and then got this little gem in my email today.

"Thank you for registering for the Nintendo Wii Preview Event at Atlantis, Ontario Place on Tuesday, November 14. Your reservation has been confirmed, along with your chance to enter a draw to win a Wii when you arrive. Please note that admittance to the lineup will begin at 11am and will end at 4pm. Entrance to the game floor is on a first come, first serve basis, so be sure to come early to avoid disappointment."

It would appear that this writer/gamer will be playing the Wii 5 days before launch. Yaaaaay for me but I haven't forgotten about all of you I will be sure to take plenty of pictures and let all of you know what I thought of the new console and games.

Political Games

Holy damn! It has been sooooo long. I feel bad but hey I'm trying to build a career here. Yes been busy blah blah blah I won't bore you with the details or apologies. You shall see the fruits of my labor soon enough. Regardless just thought I would weigh in on the events of yesterday's MID-TERM ELECTIONS.

Well lets see....... Oh look! It would appear that Joe"I hate video games" Lieberman was re-elected to his senate seat despite losing his party's support earlier this year in the Connecticut primary. I guess miracles do happen....... for those who don't deserve them. Well maybe Hilary"Gamers are sinners"Clinton lost her senate seat. (checks paper......smashes head on desk) Ahhhhhh who am I kidding she'll probably get elected President in 2008. Wait! That's it! If Clinton is too busy with her run for the White House she just might not be able to take those phone calls from Jack Thompson. Also she's gotta keep Bill busy with something. You know Hilary, Bill likes jublies and there are plenty of pixelated jublies in GTA:San Andreas.